Human Nature
by garudamon
Summary: Everyone on earth now knows about digimon, but the summer before Taichi, Sora, and Yamato head off to university, the chosen children are threatened by a different sort of enemy. There are evil digimon, but then there are evil humans, and humans are all-too familiar with the way the world works. Full summary inside. Pairings will vary.
1. The Stolen D-3

**Human Nature**

 **Summary:** Everyone on earth now knows about digimon, but the summer before Taichi, Sora, and Yamato head off to university, the chosen children are threatened by a different sort of enemy. There are evil digimon, but then there are evil humans, and humans are all-too familiar with the way the world works. Can Taichi and his friends overcome obstacles that pit them against each other (and themselves), or will they fail as guardians of their newly integrated worlds?

 **Author's note:** Before reading on, please note that this story will explore a number of different identities and themes. I expect there to be triggering material, but I will do my best to provide proper warnings for each chapter if they are applicable. Those warnings can be found **at the bottom** of each affected chapter so that nothing's spoiled, but I'll make them noticeable so you can scroll down without having to read anything else. On that note, I can only write with authority about a certain number of identities. I'm doing a lot of research for this story, but that will never be enough. If you feel that something was portrayed improperly please message me and let me know so I can edit it. The last thing I want to do is do a disservice to communities that I believe need more presence in fanfiction. However, please also note that the characters in this story will be experiencing incredible growth, so things might be written a certain way on purpose. Thanks everyone!

 **Chapter 1: The Stolen D-3**

* * *

"Mimi, I can't believe you did all this for us." Taichi exclaimed, looking around him.

Mimi's apartment was filled with tons of Taichi's classmates. In typical Mimi-fashion she'd gone all out to throw her friends a surprise graduation party. Streamers were littered across the walls and balloons of all colors were tied on to every single piece of furniture. A giant banner hung across the doorway that read 'Congratulations Taichi, Yamato, Sora!'. High schoolers were standing around talking and drinking- there were so many people that Mimi had to leave her balcony door open so fresh air could come in.

"Oh, don't say another word about it," Mimi shushed him, "graduating high school is a big deal! And the three of you will be headed off to college soon. We needed one last hurrah, right?"

Taichi smiled and nodded at her. He still wondered how she'd gotten away with throwing such a party- his parents would have killed him. The brunette wasn't complaining, though.

Taichi felt a hand grab onto his shoulder, so he swung around to see who it was. A cheerful Daisuke looked up at him.

"So, do you think you're ready for college?"

"I'm so excited." Taichi replied.

Jyou must have overheard, because he piped up behind them. "Well, you shouldn't be." He sighed and looked at the floor, pushing his glasses up on his nose. "The excitement for me died down on the first day. I'm still drowning in school work."

"Well, no one told you to become a doctor, Jyou!" Taichi laughed, turning back to Daisuke. "I'm more than ready to get out of here."

In a few months, Taichi would be headed to Yamaguchi University. It was on the other side of Japan, but he couldn't turn down a top-30 offer. The school was a reach school and he didn't really expect to get in. When he told his family the news they were torn between joy and sadness because they knew they would see him a lot less. Hikari was the one who had really helped him decide, though. She pushed him to confirm his enrollment. His little sister insisted that it was the best decision for him, even though she would miss him. Taichi was convinced that she just wanted their room to herself.

On the other side of the party, Yamato was slowly sipping his cup of beer. Drinking wasn't exactly his thing, but he didn't want people to badger him about celebrating all night. He'd probably been holding on to the same cup for over an hour, but he doubted that anyone noticed. Ken Ichijouji was standing against the wall next to him, silently observing the party.

Yamato leaned over, "So, are you having fun?"

Ken seemed to snap out of a daze. "Oh, yeah! Thanks so much for inviting me- well, I guess it was Mimi, wasn't it?"

"We're all happy to have you here." The blonde replied, noticing the younger chosen child didn't have a drink either. Ken fidgeted with his hands once he'd realized the older boy noticed. Yamato smirked, slightly relieved that he wasn't the only one who wasn't celebrating in the conventional way.

"Hey, really," he went on, determined to stop Ken's fidgeting, "I'm glad you're here! I'm more of a people-watcher myself, but it's boring to do it on your own, you know?"

Ken let his hands fall to his sides. "Yeah, I suppose." He looked around and scanned the crowd. He only knew a handful of the people there because he attended a different high school. It seemed like everyone was having more fun than him, but perhaps it was just a different type of fun. Daisuke was milling around the room and making friends like the typical social butterfly he was. Miyako was sat on the sofa talking to some friends from her computer club. Hikari was… sitting off to the side. Ken cocked his head. It wasn't like her to look down at an event like this.

"Do you mind if I step outside for a moment?" Yamato asked, pulling Ken out of his thoughts.

The younger boy watched his friend pull out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "Oh, not at all… I didn't know you uh, you-"

"It's a new habit." Yamato stated bluntly.

Ken waited for a moment to see if he was going to explain himself, but he didn't. "Well, I'll head over there." He said, motioning towards Hikari.

Yamato looked concerned. "Is she okay?"

"I'm sure she's fine." Ken replied, smiling again. "I'll go check on her."

The blonde made his way towards the front door. He thought it would be a better idea to smoke out on the front walkway so he wouldn't fill Mimi's apartment with a terrible smell. Plus, he really didn't want all his friends finding out about his bad habit.

Mimi saw him go by and cut off her conversation with Taichi to ask him if he was leaving.

Yamato smirked at her, "You think I would leave your party this early?" He raised his voice so she could hear him over the crowd before walking out the door. It shut behind him, muffling all the voices. Quiet.

Meanwhile, Ken approached Hikari, unsure if something was wrong or not. She had her phone out, but the boy could see that she wasn't actually using it.

"Erm, hey..." he began, hoping his company wasn't unwanted.

"Oh, hi!" Hikari replied, raising her head to look at him. She instantly put a smile on her face as if she was trying to pretend she didn't look sad a moment ago.

Ken stopped in front of her, unsure of where to place himself. Hikari was sat in a single chair and there wasn't any place else to sit. "You alright?"

"Of course!" the girl said a little too quickly. "This is one heck of a party, huh?"

"For one heck of an occasion." Ken concluded. Hikari bit her lip. He decided to push further. It was better than leaving her alone again. "So, Taichi's attending Yamaguchi, huh?"

"Yeah," Hikari forced another smile, "isn't it great? I'm so proud of him."

"And rightly so." Ken shifted his weight on his feet. "That's a great school. I would be proud to get in there."

"Mmm…" The girl's voice trailed off.

It was silent for a moment, and Ken couldn't think of what to do. "Well-"

"I'm going to miss him." Hikari said suddenly. She bit her lip again and looked back at the ground.

Ken's eyes widened. He was great friends with Hikari and all, but he never really knew what to do when girls were sad. He pushed his hand through his hair and sighed. "He'll miss you too. You guys are a great pair of siblings."

The brunette smiled, and this time Ken could tell it was genuine. "Thanks," She said, looking up again, "but don't you think it's a little selfish of me to be sitting here at his graduation party? After all, it's not every day you get to send your older brother off to college."

"Not at all!" the boy retorted. "I think it's a bit natural. I imagine that I would feel the same way if I was seeing my older brother off to school."

Hikari furrowed her brow and muttered a quick apology, realizing that what she was saying probably sounded selfish to him. The boy insisted it wasn't a problem. Hikari nodded but didn't believe him, unaware that Ken was internally scolding himself for being so awkward.

Their conversation dwindled again, but luckily, Ken spotted Takeru across the room. It looked like he'd just finished a conversation with someone.

"Hey, why don't we go hang out with Takeru?" Ken asked, pointing in his direction. "He's sending Yamato off too, you know. Maybe he'll be able to help cheer you up."

Hikari smiled and got up. "Sure. Let's try and have some fun."

Sora, the final graduate, was standing in the kitchen talking to some members of her tennis team. They were going on and on about how she wasn't going to continue playing in college.

"But you're so good!" One of them lauded.

"Really," another girl piped up, "you were the best doubles partner I ever had!"

"Thanks, Nori." Sora blushed, taking another sip of her drink. She already felt a bit red in the face and these compliments weren't helping. "But hey, what about you? You'll be a senior next year, do you have any plans?"

Nori sighed and pushed a lock of black hair behind her ear. "No. Not yet at least. Well," she chuckled, "I won't be majoring in math like you!"

Sora smirked. Whenever she told anyone about her planned major, no one seemed excited about it. It was math, the subject that most people despised in school. Sora, however, always found that it came easy to her. It was something she was good at, and when she was pressured to decide what she was going to study, she put it down on her applications.

"Hey!" Nori reached over and grabbed some shot glasses off the counter, "Another round for Sora, huh?"

The girls on Sora's team nodded in approval, reaching out and taking one. Sora, however, placed a hand over her stomach. "Oh gosh Nori, I really don't think I should have another, I-"

Her friend cut her off. "Come on! It's your party. Just one more, okay?"

Sora grudgingly took a glass. Although her and Nori were great friends, and even better partners, their drinking habits didn't really match up.

"Alright," Nori smirked once everyone's glasses were full, "to math!"

"To math!" The group replied, laughing as they downed the alcohol.

"To math." Sora grimaced, making the mistake of smelling the liquid before throwing it back. She stuck out her tongue and waited for the unsettled feeling in her stomach to end. Two seconds turned into ten, and the redhead realized that the feeling wasn't going to go away.

"Erm, excuse me…" Sora muttered, clumsily placing her glass back down on the counter. She pushed her way through the crowd in the kitchen, but it felt like she couldn't get out fast enough.

Outside, Yamato lit his cigarette and rested his arms on the railing, looking out across the city. He inhaled the smoke and pushed it back out, watching it dance it's way across the red and white lights. The silence was nice, but the cool air felt better. Mimi's apartment was packed, and it was cool to see all his friends in one place, but the blonde didn't flourish in crowds. Throughout high school he had enjoyed performing in front of them, but being in them was a different story. He flicked some ash off the side of the balcony and brought the cigarette to his lips again. He barely had time to enjoy the hit before he heard the door open behind him.

The blonde dropped his cigarette off the edge- a gut reaction- and turned around to see who it was. He raised a brow once he recognized her.

"S-sora, what are you doing out here?" He bit his lip, wondering how badly the air around him smelled. "Shouldn't you be inside with everyone else?"

The redhead simply shook her head as she closed the door behind her, leaning against it for a moment. She closed her eyes, tilt her head to the side, and breathed a sigh of relief once the cool air hit her face.

Yamato stared at her. "You're drunk."

Sora nodded, looking more disheveled with each second that passed.

"Why did you drink so much?"

The girl opened her eyes and stepped towards him, reaching out for the railing once she was close enough. "It wasn't my fault."

Yamato tensed up. He could feel how thick the air around him was. If he kept quiet, maybe Sora would head back inside.

She didn't, though. In fact, she really seemed to settle into her spot. She shut her eyes again and took a deep breath. Yamato cringed.

As expected, Sora furrowed her brow. "Why does it smell like-" she snapped her head and glared at him. "Yamato!"

"W-what!?" he tried to play it off like he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Oh, don't give me that!" She stood up straight and shot daggers at him. "You told me you were going to quit when I caught you before."

"W-well-" Yamato struggled to come up with something to say.

"You know how unhealthy smoking is!"

"I-"

"It'll ruin your voice!"

"Sora, I-"

"I'm so disappointed."

Yamato gave up trying to interrupt her and went back to staring out over the city. He tried to think about something else, but his mind was blank. He only spoke up again once the silence between them became uncomfortable. "You know, I'm a grown man now, and I can make my own decisions."

He could still feel Sora staring at him when she responded. "Well you're a pretty stupid grown man to be making that choice."

The blonde sighed, deciding to drop it. Sora was stubborn, not to mention drunk, and he wasn't going to win even though deep down he knew she was right.

"You know," the girl spoke again, placing her hand on her stomach as she straightened herself up, "I know we aren't as close as we used to be… you know…"

Yamato still refused to look at her, knowing where she was going.

"…But I still care about you, and I don't want you to get sick or anything."

"Thanks, Sora." He mumbled bluntly, and silence overcame them again. They both stood there for a moment, looking out over the lights. Yamato became hyper-aware of himself, wondering if there was too little space between them. "Um," he began, realizing he should probably make sure she was alright before attempting to make an exit, "well-"

The door opened again.

"Oh, there you are!"

It was Mimi. Yamato turned around to face her, and it was clear that she'd only been looking for Sora. He caught her throw a puzzled look his way and figured she was probably wondering what the two of them were doing off together. Before he could get a word out, the girl fanned the air in front of her.

"Jesus, Yamato! Have you been smoking again?!"

"Oh, god." Yamato muttered, rolling his eyes. He expected Sora to answer for him, but she didn't. He took advantage of the chance to change the topic. "Erm, Sora's feeling… not too well…"

Mimi raised a brow and turned to look at her friend who was leaned up against the balcony railing again, looking out over the edge. "Sora, are you alright?"

The redhead didn't turn around, but she managed to mumble that she was okay and held her arm up at her side to flash a thumbs-up.

Mimi chuckled. "Well at least that means you're having fun!"

Sora turned around at that and shot Mimi a skeptical look. "I don't think I ever want to have this much fun again." She paused for a moment, stood up straight, and pushed her hair out of her face. "Maybe we should head back inside, maybe we could get some water?"

Mimi nodded sympathetically. "Water, sure! And Yamato, are you coming, or are you going to stay out here and light up another death-stick?"

Yamato rolled his eyes again and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Ah, Mimi, why do you always have to be like this?"

Sora answered instead, keeping her words quiet but strict. "If you didn't make stupid decisions then neither of us would have to nag you."

"I appreciate the concern guys, but it's not like I'm addicted, alright?" He pulled the front door open and instantly felt the hot, heavy air seeping out. "There's just a lot of people here and it's stressing me out."

Mimi grabbed hold of Sora's hand and helped her step through the doorway before turning back and shooting Yamato a glare. She pointed at her eyes, then at him. He shrugged and smiled sheepishly, secretly hoping that neither of them would tell on him. He thought Mimi and Sora were bad with nagging him, but Takeru was even worse.

Yamato barely had time to shut the door before he spotted Taichi walking towards him. The brunette was balancing tons of little glasses in his hands.

"What are you doing with those?" Yamato asked hesitantly, looking down at the clear liquor that filled each of them.

Taichi nodded at Yamato and motioned down at them. "Take one, will you? Where's everyone else? We have to do a proper toast!"

Yamato blinked. He glanced over Taichi's shoulder and saw Sora gripping onto Mimi's hand as they walked across the room. "I don't really know if-"

"Oh, just take one!" Taichi spun around and scanned the room. He spotted his friends one by one and called them over. "Eh, hey," he leaned back over towards Yamato, "will you do me a favor and give one to my sister?"

"What? Why?" Yamato asked, still considering whether to turn Taichi down on his offer.

"I'm her older brother!" Taichi explained, "I can't just give her alcohol! You do it, so it's not technically from me."

Yamato sighed and took two of the glasses. His friends joined them one after the other.

"Taichi, you've got to be kidding me…" Sora groaned.

Jyou looked appalled at his. Koushiro glanced around at his friends, trying to search for the reaction he should have in the faces of others.

"We've got to do a proper toast!" Taichi exclaimed, making a point to lock eyes with those who'd tried to reject his offer. "When's the last time the eight of us have been together at once? We've got to celebrate all the incredible times we've had."

The group became silent. Taichi looked expectantly at each one of his friends. He knew that this could potentially be one of the last times they would all be in one room. Did they?

Someone in the group sniffled and Taichi looked around to see who it was. Everyone's eyes were locked on Mimi, but the girl was looking straight down at the ground.

"Hey," Taichi began, treading carefully, "are you alright? I… I didn't mean to upset you."

Mimi looked up at him and offered a sheepish smile. "I just… I just can't believe at the end of the summer you'll all be gone! That's all." She used her sleeve to wipe some water out of the corner of her eye.

"Eh, Mimi," Jyou piped up, "where was all this emotion when I left for university? I've been gone for a year now!"

Mimi's lower lip quivered and she teared up again. "Jyou!"

Everyone laughed. No matter how much time their group of eight spent apart, they always seemed to pick right back up where they left off when all of them got together. Perhaps some dynamics between them had changed, and perhaps some of them had grown and changed and matured, but at the end of the day they made a good team. They always had. Taichi raised his glass in the air and looked around at his friends. They all smiled and looked back at him. If they still had any qualms about one final drink, it didn't show on anyone's face.

"Here's to us!" Taichi cheered, and they all clinked their glasses together.

* * *

"Taichi! Taichi!"

The brunette didn't budge. He laid tangled in his blankets, hoping that whoever was calling him would give up.

"Taichi!"

He grumbled a little and rolled over, still not opening his eyes. He guessed that it was close to noon. Someone had left his bedroom window open and he could feel the warm air blowing in. The sun must have been heating it for a while.

"Taichi!" This time, the shout of his name was accompanied by a knocking on his door.

"Ehhh?" The boy groaned, squinting through one of his eyes. He could already tell it was his mother. His father's knock was much louder, and Hikari never bothered to announce herself before coming in.

Mrs. Yagami cracked the door open and leaned inside. "Taichi?"

The boy groaned again, rolling back over to face the wall.

His mother wasn't pleased. "Listen young man, you need to get up or I'm going to give your breakfast to your sister. It's been sitting on the table for an hour now."

Taichi remained silent. He wasn't ignoring his mom- he was just half asleep. He pulled his blankets up over his head and curled up.

Mrs. Yagami sighed. "Maybe you wouldn't be so tired if you had gotten back at a reasonable hour last night. I told you not to have Hikari out too long!"

Taichi rolled back over and peeked over the top of the blankets. "Sorry mom." He said, unsure if he should actually apologize. 'Don't be out too late' was a loose command to him. Who defined "too late" anyways?

"Come eat. You have to be at practice soon, don't you?" Mrs. Yagami walked away and left the door open. The television was on in the living room and it was just loud enough to be annoying.

Taichi glanced over at the clock sitting on his desk and gasped when he realized what time it was.

"Noon…?" he muttered to himself. Football practice was supposed to start in an hour and he'd forgotten all about it! The boy laid in bed for a moment, trying to decide whether he should panic and rush to get ready or simply accept the fact that he would be late. Either way, there definitely wouldn't be enough time for breakfast. He begrudgingly got out from under his blankets and sat upright, turning so he could put his feet on the floor.

Taichi blinked a few times and gave himself a minute to truly wake up. He definitely didn't feel well rested. In fact, he felt pretty bad. He thought about calling his coach to say he was sick and couldn't play, but that would be pretty irresponsible for a captain to do. The boy knew that he had a responsibility to be there. He sighed as he stood up and stretched. He might have been awake, but his muscles definitely weren't.

Hikari, on the other hand, had been up for hours. She put her empty plate into the sink and sat back down at the table. The news had been on the entire time she was eating, but this particular segment caught her attention.

A middle-aged news anchor just introduced a scientist as a guest on the show and he called him a 'Digital World expert'. Hikari raised a brow at the word 'expert'. She imagined that he would just be another fluke ready to join the ranks of obsessed professionals trying to find out something- anything- about digimon.

Over the years, a number of people had come forth with theories about the digital world. The hype had died down a bit since their last battle with BelialVamdemon, but every now and then the media would feature someone. Common themes of interviews like this one included scientific theories about where the digiworld was, how it was made, and how earth could defend itself against possible intruders. At first Hikari, Taichi, and the other kids were nervous about all the attention digimon were getting. They were unsure whether humans could handle that sort of information. Eventually though, the existence of digimon became an accepted fact. As the time of peace went on, folks became more at ease with the idea of a parallel world. Well, most folks.

This scientist seemed a little bit _off_. Hikari zoned in on the television as she listened to him speak.

"What we've seen from these creatures is that they can possess extreme amounts of power. My question is- why hasn't anyone tried to harness that? It's a lucrative idea, and one that I've been working on for years now."

"For years?" The news anchor asked, "What sort of work have you done?"

The scientist pulled himself up in his seat and straightened out his jacket. It was like he was preparing to say something he'd been rehearsing. "Most of the work my research team has done has consisted of analyzing the powers of the monsters that we've seen right here in Tokyo. We've looked over tons of film and data files that were picked up by local radio and satellite stations. We want to figure out how these creatures attack and where that energy comes from."

"And what would you plan to do with that sort of information?"

Hikari leaned in closer towards the television to hear the answer, but a loud clamor coming from her and Taichi's room suddenly grabbed her attention. Her brother threw open the door and struggled to tie one of his shoes as he hopped into the main living area.

"Taichi, you should come look at this." The girl said, gesturing towards the television. She seemed unphased by her brother's clumsy demeanor.

"Sorry, Hikari!" he responded, out of breath. He dashed over towards the table and picked up a handful of food that he quickly shoved into his mouth, not caring to swallow before speaking, "I'm running late! Tell me about it later, would ya?"

"Wait-!" Hikari stood from her chair and raised her hand out, trying to catch his attention as he bolted down the hall.

"Sorry!" He called back, running out of the house and slamming the door behind him.

The younger Yagami sighed and slumped back down into her chair. She'd missed the rest of the interview.

"Thank you for being here, Mr. Endo! Endo Hiroki, everyone!"

The show cut to commercials and Hikari was left a little stunned. Hiroki Endo. His name left a sinking feeling in the girl's stomach. Maybe he was a fluke, but there was something about him. He wasn't like the other 'experts'. Hikari could feel it.

* * *

Daisuke sat huffing and puffing on the bench as he watched Taichi score the goal that would end practice. A boy named Reiji was acting as goalkeeper, but Taichi's perfect shot flew right by him, much to his dismay. The scrimmage was over and Daisuke realized he had a lot of work left to do if he wanted to be as good as Taichi was.

"Taichi…" the younger boy sighed as his role model walked towards him, "how can you run for so long?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Reiji glare at him, but he let it be.

"Practice!" The elder Yagami replied with a cheesy smile. "The transition from playing in middle school to high school is tough. You've just got to keep working at it!"

Daisuke frowned and wiped some sweat off his forehead.

"But for the record, I think you're pretty fast! You've got a year under your belt and you're faster than some of the seniors already." Taichi added on, tossing the younger boy his football.

Daisuke let out a yelp as he caught it, struggling to not fall backwards off the bench. A group of boys around him laughed and he frowned again.

Taichi took a seat next to Daisuke and rummaged through his bag to find his own water bottle. He didn't feel too tired, but the summer heat was making him thirsty. He took a giant gulp and poured a bit on his forehead. "Ahh… wha..?"

The boy heard a quiet beeping noise coming from inside his bag. He pushed his hand in and pulled out his digivice. Taichi looked bewildered at the screen. It hadn't gone off like this in a long time. Was something wrong? Nearly on cue, his cell phone rang.

Daisuke looked over curiously. "Is that your digivice?" he asked, "Who's calling you?

"It's Koushiro." Taichi replied, answering the call. He could feel butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. "Hey, what's up?"

Daisuke leaned in so he could hear what the other digidestined way saying.

"Hey Taichi, there's something going on in the digital world."

"Ah." Taichi perked up. His suspicions were confirmed. "Is your digivice going off too?"

"Yeah," Koushiro began, "but I've known for hours."

"Right…" The brunette replied, wondering why he wouldn't have automatically assumed that by now. He glanced over at Daisuke, whose ear was now only a few inches away from his own. "Well, what's going on?"

"I'm not exactly sure." Koushiro replied. "My computer started picking up alerts and changes in data around noon. I'd go check it out myself, but I have a prior commitment."

"A prior commitment?" Taichi asked, raising a brow.

Koushiro ignored his question. "Can you take a buddy and go in and check things out?"

Daisuke leaned back and tried to conspicuously shoot a fist into the air. "Yes! Some action!"

Taichi glanced over at Daisuke again and shot him an agitated look. The younger boy slumped down a bit, glanced around, and noticed that some of his teammates were now staring at him. He turned red and focused on putting his things back in his bag so he could be prepared to go whenever Taichi was. Although he was also concerned about whatever threat was arising in the digital world, he was also excited to be back in action, even if that action was simply going to take a look around.

The older boy pressed his phone back to his ear. "Daisuke and I are at the school now. We can get into the digital world through the computer lab."

"Great." Koushiro responded. He could have left the conversation at that, but he felt the need to tack on some sort of warning. "And will you and Daisuke please be careful? I'm not too concerned about whatever this is but please don't do anything reckless."

"Right." Taichi rolled his eyes. He expected that sort of disclaimer when he was younger, but he didn't think he needed it now. "We're not going to start any trouble, you don't need to worry about us."

"I'm just saying," Koushiro explained, "if things get dangerous, don't stick around. We can always regroup and go in as a team later."

"Got it." Taichi replied, hanging up his phone. Daisuke was looking at him eagerly, waiting to hear the words. "Are you ready to open the digiport?"

Daisuke practically fell over in excitement.

Taichi smirked. "Well why don't you finish getting your things together? I'm gonna run ahead and make sure no one's around."

"Right!"

The elder boy jogged ahead as Daisuke shoved the rest of his belongings into his bag. He took off his cleats, replaced them with regular sneakers, and made sure to finish the rest of his water. At this point, only him and another one of his teammates remained. Everyone else had left and gone home.

Right as Daisuke picked up his bag to go, the other boy walked up to him. "Er, hey, Daisuke…"

"Hey Reiji." Daisuke muttered quickly, taking one last look around to make sure he'd gathered everything he needed. He wanted to walk off and join Taichi, but his teammate was still staring at him. "Do you need something?"

Reiji blushed a bit and spoke slowly, like he was carefully choosing each of his words before saying them out loud. "I, uh, I overheard you and Taichi talking and… you're going to the digital world?"

Daisuke stopped rushing and gave Reiji a confused look. "Yeah…" He said, matching Reiji's caution.

"Do you, uh, do you," Reiji shifted his weight on his feet, "do you think I could tag along with you? I've wanted to see it since I found out it existed."

"What?" Daisuke said, perhaps too quickly. "No way! It's dangerous. That's why Taichi and I have to go."

"Oh." The boy replied. His nervous persona disappeared and his response was a bit cold.

Daisuke kept looking at him confusedly, but his brows furrowed a bit now. "Listen… maybe another time."

Reiji shook off whatever was putting Daisuke on edge and smiled again. "Fine. I understand. I'll walk to the school with you, though. I have to go to the bathroom."

Daisuke nodded but didn't say anything. For some reason, Reiji's company started to make him feel uncomfortable. They walked in silence for a bit and nearly reached the school entrance before the boy piped up again.

"What's it like?"

"What?"

"The digital world." Reiji clarified. "What's it like?"

"I don't know," Daisuke responded as he pulled the door open, "digital-y, I guess?"

Reiji frowned. "No, really! It must be great."

"Sometimes." Daisuke mumbled, starting to wish Reiji would get lost.

Reiji was a bit of an odd kid. He was tall and had dark eyes with dark hair to match. He was a bit lanky, too, but he was fast. Sometimes it was impossible to catch him on the field, especially if he got a head start.

The boy gave up asking, but he went right past the bathroom when they went by it. Daisuke side-eyed him and began to think of how he could shoo him away.

"Didn't you say you had to go to the bathroom?" Daisuke questioned.

Reiji sighed. "Can't I just see the digital port? It's not like I can actually go in, right?"

"Taichi-san isn't going to like this…" Daisuke muttered to himself, giving in to the boy's persistence. Questions like Reiji's were common when the world first found out about digimon. Daisuke liked the attention at first, but it quickly grew annoying. Now the questions were rare, but the digidestined was still thoroughly agitated.

In a matter of moments the two of them were standing in the computer lab. One of the computers flashed on when Daisuke entered the room. Reiji looked over at him enviously.

"Now where is it…" Daisuke wondered as he dropped his bag on the ground and rummaged through it. He was sure that he packed his digivice that morning. Once he located it he zipped his bag back up and placed it down on top, realizing that _he_ was the one who needed to go to the bathroom now. "Ah, shoot." The boy stood and turned towards Reiji. "Listen, don't touch anything, I need to run to the bathroom really quick. Taichi-san should be back any minute."

Reiji nodded and pulled out a chair as Daisuke dashed out of the room. He looked around for a minute and wondered how a computer could react to a human being's presence. As his eyes locked onto Daisuke's D-3, though, he wondered if it was due to humans at all. Reiji walked over and grabbed the device and looked at it for a moment. It felt heavy and worn out in his hands, and it was easy to imagine that he was the one who'd been using it.

The boy hesitated for a moment and listened for footsteps in the hall. There were none. He was all alone, at least for the time being. He gripped the D-3 more tightly and walked defiantly towards the computer.

"I'll see what it's like." He whispered. "I'm sure it's better than here."

With that, he pointed the device towards the screen. He really didn't expect anything to happen, but he was determined to see the digital world somehow. "Now how does this- whoa!"

Light flashed out of the screen and engulfed him. The boy barely had time to react before he felt himself being pulled in. He let out a short gasp, and then the light ate him whole. Reiji was gone, and so was Daisuke's D-3.

If all of this had happened fifteen seconds earlier, Taichi would have caught him. The older boy walked into the room and saw Daisuke's things on the floor, so he took a seat and waited. He wondered what had been sending the alert. Koushiro had mentioned something about data changing, so he wondered if something evil had appeared or evolved. No matter what it was, though, Taichi was sure that Agumon and him could destroy it.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Taichi-san!" Daisuke exclaimed as he hurried back into the room. He looked around and, to his relief, noticed that Reiji was gone. Perhaps Taichi had gotten rid of him.

Taichi stood and nodded. "It's not problem. Let's just get in and out as quickly as we can. I told Koushiro we wouldn't take too long."

"Right." Daisuke went back to his bag to grab his D-3, but it wasn't where he left it. He furrowed his brows and unzipped his bag, wondering if he'd only imagined pulling it out before. When he didn't find it in there he began to panic. The boy looked back towards Taichi, who was now looking at him with confusion.

"Are you alright?" He asked, peering over Daisuke at his mess of things. "You brought your digivice, didn't you?"

"I… I did…" Daisuke began, his voice trailing off as he realized what must have happened. "Oh, no…"

The boy stood and dashed over towards the computer. It was still on, and the digi-port had been opened. A small blip on the screen was supposed to represent Daisuke, but now it just represented Daisuke's device. Reiji was in there somewhere. He must have taken it.

"Oh no… Oh no, oh no." Daisuke mumbled as he ran back towards his bag, digging through it again. Maybe he was imagining all of this.

"What's going on?" Taichi asked, his voice filled with concern now.

Daisuke turned around defeated and looked at Taichi with apologetic eyes. "Reiji took my digivice."

"Reiji?" Taichi asked, wondering what in the world Daisuke was talking about.

"Ugh!" Daisuke slapped a hand across his forehead. "I let that stupid kid walk with me because he said he was going to use the bathroom, but he asked if he could see the digital world and I left him alone here."

Taichi quickly put two-and-two together and stood up rapidly from his seat. "What?!" He exclaimed, running over towards Daisuke's bag and starting to rummage through it himself. "Are you sure it's not in here? What do you mean he wanted to go to the digital world?"

"He asked me to take him with us!" Daisuke explained, stepping back to let Taichi search. "I told him no and kept trying to lose him but he persisted. I didn't think he'd do something like this!"

"So you left him alone with your digivice?!" Taichi spat, spinning around to look back at the boy. "Daisuke, how could you be so careless?!"

"Taichi, I'm sorry!" he pleaded. "I didn't think this would happen!"

"Well, you should have thought!" Taichi yelled, suddenly realizing the volume of his voice. He pushed his hair back and sighed. "I'm sorry."

Daisuke stood there silently, his eyes locked on the ground. "No, you're right. It's my fault, and now we don't even have a digivice that can get us in there."

Taichi hadn't even thought of that yet. He couldn't open the digiport with his own device and no one else was around. There was nothing they could do in the moment, and that's what frustrated Taichi most of all. "We need to call Koushiro." He muttered, realizing that he'd broken his word to his friend before they'd even left the computer lab. Did letting an average kid take a D-3 and run into the digital world during a dangerous situation count as something reckless?

"I'll do it." Daisuke offered. "He'll be really mad, but he should only be mad at me."

Taichi didn't dispute that point. He reached into his pocket and tossed Daisuke his cell phone. He'd make it up to the kid later for losing his temper, but right now they needed to focus.

As Daisuke dialed, the older boy walked back towards the computer and collapsed onto the chair in front of it. The blip of the stolen digivice was still on the screen, but so was Koushiro's alert.

"Shit." Taichi muttered, leaning back and looking hopelessly at the ceiling. "This is bad."

He could only imagine what Koushiro would say.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. It took me about a month to write, but I promise the next one won't take nearly as long. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is appreciated, as my goal is always to improve my writing. If you notice any grammatical mistakes as well, please let me know so I can edit them out. I can read over a chapter as many times as I want and I'll still manage to miss something. Anyways, I can't wait to begin exploring some more themes and relationships, so I'll try to update this as quickly as I can.**

 **-garudamon**


	2. Unexpected Consequences

**Chapter 2: Unexpected Consequences**

* * *

Sora opened her eyes and quickly realized she wasn't in her own room. The walls were colored light pink and posters of the New York skyline hung everywhere. Clothes were littered around the floor and the dresser was covered with lotions and makeup. Everything belonged to Mimi. Sora realized that she never made it home after her graduation party.

The girl sat up in bed and felt herself get quite the headache. Her temples throbbed and she was absolutely quenched. Luckily Mimi seemed to have lent her some pajamas to sleep in so she wouldn't be totally uncomfortable.

Sora got herself up and headed out towards Mimi's sitting room. The door that led out to the balcony was open and it was letting in a warm breeze. The curtains blew back and forth and everything was quiet. It was hard to believe that same room was filled with people the night before.

"Mimi?" Sora called out, wondering where her friend had gone.

"I'm in the kitchen!"

The redhead rounded the corner and saw her doing dishes.

"Are those all from last night?" Sora asked, looking bewilderedly at the pile of cups that had accumulated on Mimi's drying rack.

Mimi finished up and nodded. "Mhmm. You know, sometimes it'd be nice for people to clean up after themselves!"

"I would've had I woken up earlier." Sora offered, feeling bad that Mimi did all of the work.

"Don't be silly, Sora." Mimi replied, pulling out a chair and sitting down at the kitchen table. She offered Sora a seat and she obliged. "It was your party! And it seems like you had quite the night."

Sora groaned and leaned her head against one of her hands. The last thing she remembered was Taichi giving her a drink that she definitely shouldn't have had. "How come I stayed here?" she asked, already embarrassed about whatever the answer probably was.

Mimi laughed. "Well, you fell asleep on my couch! What kind of hostess would I be if I let you sleep there though? You didn't want to wake up so Taichi carried you all the way to my room."

Sora felt her face grow red. Taichi'd carried her? She could already imagine what he would say to her when he saw her again. "Where did you sleep?"

"My parents room." Mimi replied. "They won't be back until tomorrow."

Sora nodded and figured she must have looked a little ill because Mimi offered to get her some water. The redhead gladly accepted it and downed the cup of icy liquid in one go.

Mimi stared at her wide-eyed. "You must've really had a lot last night."

"I didn't want to." Sora replied, frowning. "Why do people think taking shots is a good way to celebrate?"

"I think that's only Taichi!" Mimi laughed, remembering the night before. "I don't know why we all listen to him."

Sora laughed at that too. "Well, it _was_ nice to have everyone together at the same time."

"I know!" Mimi exclaimed, "It's funny, you know, we've all changed but when we come together it's like we can pick up right where we left off."

"Well, for the most part." Sora added on, the laughter gone from her voice.

Mimi leaned back in her chair and gave Sora a curious look. It didn't take her long to realize she was talking about Yamato. They'd broken up a few years after they started dating, but Mimi didn't know too many of the specifics. Even when Sora showed up on her doorstep the night it happened, she was hesitant to get into details about it. "Is it weird being around Yamato?" She asked.

"Um, not really." Sora replied, dragging out the last word so she could have some time to gather her thoughts. "We haven't hung out on our own in awhile… but being around him in a big group isn't so weird."

"Oh?" Mimi raised a brow, wondering how that could be possible.

"Before we dated I felt awkward being around him because I liked him. Now I feel awkward being around him because he used to be my person, and now he isn't." Sora explained. She paused for a moment and blushed. "I didn't embarrass myself when I was outside with him last night, did I?"

"I don't think so!" Mimi answered, "But who cares anyways? If he judged you for having fun then that's his own problem. That guy needs to loosen up, you know?"

"Mmm…" Sora mumbled as their conversation dwindled down. She wasn't sure if she agreed with her. They sat there for a moment and listened to the clock tick. Three seconds, four seconds, five seconds.

"Koushiro got tall." The redhead said quietly, trying to break the silence. Sora used to tower over him, but now it was quite the opposite.

"Did he?" Mimi asked, raising her brows like she'd just realized it. "I suppose he did..." Her voice trailed off and the conversation dwindled once more.

"Well, I should probably get going." Sora said, rising from her spot. "I'm sure my mom's wondering where I am."

"Of course!" Mimi replied, standing so she could walk her friend to the door. After a quick change of clothes, Sora was ready to go. "Hey, I really do hope you had fun last night, though. It was nice to have everyone together again."

"It sure was." Sora offered one final smile before heading out. "Thanks for hosting us."

Mimi was left in her now-clean apartment with the memories of the night before. Everything was a bit hazy, but she'd had fun too.

"Mimi, you plan one heck of a party." She said to herself as she leaned up against the wall and looked over her living room. She'd done such a good job of cleaning that she probably could have gotten away with throwing her party without begging her parents for permission to. It wasn't like her to lie, though- not that she was any good at it.

Suddenly the girl heard her cell phone go off in her bedroom so she dashed to pick it up. It was Koushiro.

"Hello?"

* * *

As Sora wandered down the street all she could think about was going back to bed. Last night had been a blast, but reality was beginning to set in and Sora wanted nothing to do with it.

"Math…" she muttered to herself, wondering whether she said the word with such detest because that's what she'd been forced to drink to or because she actually detested it.

As the girl walked farther and farther away from Mimi's apartment, she started to realize that there wasn't much left for her to look forward to. The party was supposed to be a huge send-off, but now there was the entirety of summer to get through before she would actually be going anywhere. For Sora, summer didn't mean much of anything. She had no plans besides packing up her things and preparing to move to another part of Tokyo. Her university wasn't too far away but it would definitely be too difficult to commute from one side of the city to the other. Overall, the summer held nothing exciting for her. Tennis wouldn't even be there for her anymore.

Before Sora's thoughts could drift towards tennis- something that was perhaps the most depressing for her- she noticed an old woman struggling to put up a mannequin in the window of a shop she was passing.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, choosing to dash inside. The door hit a bell and the woman was alerted to her presence. "Let me help you!"

The redhead went over towards the window and steadied the large statue. It was a lot lighter than she expected it to be. The entire thing seemed to be made out of plastic. It towered over the shopkeeper, though. The little old woman only came up to Sora's shoulders.

"Let's put it here." She said, leading Sora towards the spot she wanted the mannequin placed. Once it was on the ground she smiled. "Perfect."

Sora stepped back and got a good look at the woman she was helping. She was short for sure, but she seemed strong in stature. Her hair was grey and long and pulled back in one braid that went down to her hips. The outfit she was wearing seemed traditional, too, which took Sora by surprise. The girl looked around her and realized she was in a clothing shop and everything for sale was traditional in style.

The front of the shop was littered with racks of clothing and displays of really elaborate creations. Most things looked silky and colorful. They were so vibrant that you could see the care that was put into making them. There was a counter with a register towards the middle of the store, but then the back looked like a workshop.

"Thank you for your help, young lady." The older woman said as she watched Sora look around.

"Oh, it's not problem!" Sora replied cheerfully. She directed her attention to the shopkeeper for a second only to be drawn back in by the dresses. "Did you make all of these?"

The woman nodded and looked around as well, like she was taking a moment to admire her own work. "This is my shop. Everything in here is handmade by me with only the finest materials."

"Well everything's beautiful…" Sora said in awe. "Oh! Excuse my poor manners, please. My name is Takenouchi Sora."

"Takenouchi?" The woman asked, "Are you the daughter of Toshiko, who practices Ikebana?"

"Yeah," Sora responded, "how did you know?"

The woman grinned. "You're the spitting image of her. I quite admire your mother's shop. She's very talented, you know, and a frequent customer of mine."

"Oh…" the redhead responded quietly, feeling a bit bad that she hadn't known. Her mother had a few kimonos in her wardrobe but she'd never paid much attention to them before. Now that she was surrounded by them, though, each outfit seemed to be competing for her attention.

"Wouldn't you like to know what my name is?" The woman asked, smirking a bit.

Sora blushed instantly. Her mother would kill her if word got back to her about how rude she was being in someone else's boutique. "Yes! Of course, I'm sorry."

The old lady smiled, like she thought Sora's embarrassment was endearing. "My name is Daishi Chiyoko."

Sora kept her reply short. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Daishi-sama."

"Please," the woman responded as she stepped away from the window, "call me Chiyoko."

Sora took note of the request but decided she would feel uncomfortable obliging so immediately. She'd just met the woman and was a little off-put by her kind demeanor.

"So, Takenouchi Sora," Chiyoko went on, "I've got to repay you for helping me."

That suggestion caught Sora's attention immediately. "Oh, no! It was my pleasure to help, and I barely did anything."

Chiyoko smiled again, ignoring her rejection. "Why don't you stop by tomorrow? My store closes at 5pm. I'll have a gift for you."

Once again, Sora tried to decline the offer. "Daishi-sama, I couldn't."

"Well I'll be disappointed if I don't see you, and please, again, just call me Chiyoko."

The girl was at a loss. She figured Chiyoko wasn't going to accept her saying no, so she nodded and agreed to come. It couldn't be that big of a gift. The woman was probably just grateful, especially since it seemed like she ran the shop by herself.

"Good." Chiyoko said in response. "Don't forget, 5 o'clock."

Sora didn't hear her cell phone ringing as she assured her new acquaintance that she'd be there. It went to her voicemail after a few loops through the muffled ringtone.

* * *

Koushiro paced back and forth in his room. Taichi and Daisuke were sat on two chairs as they watched him walk from one side to the other.

"Daisuke," the boy began, "tell me one more time how Reiji managed to get into the digital world?"

"I don't know." Daisuke answered. "I've told you that a thousand times now. When I came back from the bathroom my digivice was missing and Reiji was gone."

"I just don't understand how Reiji could open the digiport…" Koushiro muttered to himself. Daisuke wondered if he should answer, but he kept his mouth shut. He already felt pretty embarrassed. Him and Taichi had no way to open the digiport without his D-3, so they'd needed to call on their friends to help them.

Takeru and Hikari arrived fairly quickly. Mimi came a few minutes after that.

"Was this everyone you could get in contact with, Koushiro?" Taichi asked, looking worriedly around at his small group of friends.

Koushiro sighed. "Unfortunately, yes."

The brunette let out a large groan. His friends could get together for a party, but not for an emergency like this?

"What's going on?" Mimi asked. Koushiro hadn't been too detailed on the phone. He emphasized that they needed her help as quickly as possible, so she decided she'd get caught up when she arrived.

Koushiro motioned towards Taichi and Daisuke. "I think they'll be better at explaining it than me."

Mimi turned and looked at them expectantly. Hikari gave her brother a worried look, her nervous brown orbs matching his. The two boys alternated telling the story, with Daisuke offering an apology at the end. He expected his friends to scold him but they were rather supportive. Perhaps the situation was scarier in the moment, or perhaps Taichi had lost his temper.

"So," Koushiro continued, "now we need to find Reiji, _and_ we need to locate the source of the alert I got earlier today."

"And you need us to open the digiport." Takeru tacked on, much to Daisuke's embarrassment. Both he and Hikari pulled out their D-3's, ready to go when they were given the command.

"Right." Koushiro said. "Let's not be hasty, though. We've got two things to do, so I think it'd be best if we split up. Taichi and Daisuke, you two find Reiji. Takeru and Hikari, you guys go to the location the alert came from and see if you can figure out what's up."

"And me?" Mimi asked, wondering if the boy had forgotten her. Koushiro walked towards her and, for the first time, Mimi realized how tall he'd actually gotten. Sora was right. He used to be one of the smallest members of the group but now he towered over her. He wasn't as tall as Taichi or Yamato, but he stood with authority, and his shoulders were at a height that made it seem easy for her to rest her head on him.

"Mimi?"

The girl snapped out of her trance and realized everyone was staring at her. Koushiro had given her instructions and she'd missed every word he said. Mimi acted quickly and faked a yawn as she tried not to blush. "S-sorry?"

Koushiro blinked as he looked down at her. "I asked if you wouldn't mind staying back and helping me monitor the situation. With two missions going on at once it'll be difficult to do on my own."

"Oh, sure." She said, still trying to recover. "Sorry. I'm just really tired."

"Are you sure you don't mind staying back?"

Mimi looked up at him again. "I don't."

And, for some reason, she really didn't. Koushiro kept his eyes on her for a moment to see if he could catch her in a lie, but she wasn't faking what she said. Her tone was too honest. She began to feel unusually awkward though so she averted her gaze towards the ground. He'd probably only been looking at her for a few seconds, but to Mimi, it felt like an eternity.

"Alright," Taichi piped up from across the room, "it's set then. Let's get moving."

"Right." Koushiro replied, switching gears. He took a seat at his computer and motioned for Mimi to take over the other monitor. "All of your digimon should be waiting for you once you cross over. Taichi and Daisuke, the location the D-3 is giving off means that Reiji is somewhere in this area. I'd recommend heading there first. Hikari and Takeru, I need you two to head more north. It might be quicker to fly."

Taichi was more than ready at this point. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Koushiro replied skeptically, "don't do anything stupid."

Another groan from Taichi could be heard as the four teens got sucked into the computer screen. Mimi and Koushiro were left on their own once the light disappeared. The boy's room was small, but he managed to fit a few different desks and computers in it. His trusty laptop was sat in front of him while Mimi was tasked with booting up a desktop.

"Can you put your password in?" She leaned over and asked.

"Oh, right, sorry Mimi."

Koushiro waited for a moment to make sure everything looked good on his screen before heading over to help the girl out. Mimi scooted out of the way so that he could get to the keyboard, but they were still close enough for his arm to brush against hers with each keystroke. Normally she wouldn't have noticed something like that, or she would have pulled her arm away, but she kept it there and wondered if Koushiro had noticed too.

A map of the digital world popped up once he was logged in. It was focused in on the area that their four friends had been sent to. Most of the map was green and lush, but it turned into desert towards the north.

"There." He pointed at two red dots. "That's Taichi and Daisuke." Two other dots were moving away from them. "That's Hikari and Takeru. The younger kids are heading towards this area I've marked up here. If they message asking for directions, you're in charge, alright?"

"You got it." Mimi replied. Koushiro stood straight again and the girl turned to look up at him. They had work to do, but she didn't want their conversation to end. "And what will you be doing?"

"I'll be keeping an eye on Taichi and Daisuke," he grumbled, "Right now Daisuke and V-mon can't help, and Reiji's just a giant burden. If they run into something that Taichi and Agumon can't handle on their own we'll need to go in and help."

"Do you know anything about this Reiji kid?" Mimi asked.

Koushiro sighed. "Not really. All Taichi said was that he's some rising senior from the football team."

The girl furrowed her brow. So he was in their grade. She tried to put a face to the name, but she honestly could not remember who he was.

* * *

The moment Reiji's feet hit the ground, he ran. He didn't know where he was, but he figured Taichi and Daisuke would be close behind him and he certainly didn't want to be found. Not yet. He only paused after running in some unknown direction for a few minutes, and that's when he truly got to take a look around.

"Wow…" he muttered to himself as he took in the brightness of everything. The colors were vivid and the foliage was unlike anything he'd seen in Japan. There was an air of mystery all around him. Silence.

Suddenly Reiji stopped feeling invincible. He thought about how he should have left a trail back towards where he came from. Daisuke had mentioned there was some type of danger, and that warning was now fresh in his mind. He really had no idea where he was or what he was doing.

The boy took a few cautious steps forward and cringed each time a twig or leaf was crushed under his heavy feet. He felt like he was the center of attention and it was only a matter of time until monsters were alerted to his presence and would pick him off like the virus he was. Reiji heard rustling from a bush behind him and became so scared he could hardly move. He stood frozen in his spot as he turned his head to see what was coming out to get him.

The rustling became more hectic as a small monster pushed his way out of the foliage. He tripped on a root and rolled out, crashing on the ground at Reiji's feet. The boy remained frozen for a second, but felt less threatened the more the tiny creature groaned in pain.

"Hey… uh… are you… alright?" Reiji asked, bending down a bit. He didn't want to let his defenses down but the little guy seemed harmless enough.

"I'm fine." The monster said shortly before looking up and realizing who he was talking to. "Whoa! You're a human! And certainly not one that I've seen before. Who are you?"

"Uh, my name's Reiji." He replied as he watched the digimon get up and dust himself off.

"It's a pleasure, Reiji. My name's Impmon!" He extended his paw out and offered to shake Reiji's hand, but the boy hesitated.

"Impmon?" the human repeated, glancing down at the animalistic features of his hand. He wore red gloves and a red bandana around his neck, and his fur was colored purple. The little monster's eyes were green and his lips were stretched into a thin smile that magnified his two vampire-esque teeth.

Impmon widened his smile. "Yep!"

Reiji took his paw and shook it lightly, still careful to not drop all of his defenses. "And you're a digimon?"

"Sure am! We're all digimon around here. Well, for the most part. Humans come through every now and then but those are just the chosen children."

"Oh, yeah." Reiji glanced down at the ground. He put two and two together and realized the 'chosen children' that Impmon were talking about probably included Daisuke and Taichi. It was another reminder that they were special and he wasn't.

Impmon picked up on the change in the boy's attitude. Reiji turned solemn at the mention of the group. "You're not with them, are you?"

"Er, no… not really…" the boy felt the presence of the D-3 in his pocket. Although it had gotten him into the digital world, it did nothing in terms of making him feel like he belonged there.

"Well good!" The digimon exclaimed, much to Reiji's surprise. "Those kids are so well received around these parts, but not everything they do is helpful, you know."

Reiji furrowed his brow and offered Impmon a curious look. The little digimon had his attention now.

"Those kids, all they think about is themselves! They're so concerned with being heroes that they don't care who gets hurt. I've seen many good digimon die because they wouldn't help them, or because they've stood in their way. Everyone thinks there's something special about those kids, but they're not free of faults…"

Impmon's words somehow made Reiji feel better about himself. He'd always been so envious of those with digimon partners that he didn't stop to think about who they actually were. Taichi was always so selfish playing football; perhaps he was the same way in the digital world. It seemed to make sense.

"They never hurt _you_ , did they?" Reiji asked. He'd only met the digimon a few minutes ago but he already felt a connection to him.

"Me?" Impmon asked, pointing at himself. "Oh no, not me. I've heard rumors though… of digimon getting in their way. Let me tell you, I'd be scared out of my wits to cross their path in my current form. I'm too small and weak. I wouldn't stand a chance against them without digivolving. It's a shame, though. For every chosen human there is a chosen digimon, and I am not one of them."

Reiji couldn't help but start to think of Impmon as an old friend. Everything he was saying was perfect. It was like they'd been experiencing the same hardships a dimension away from each other.

"Well, look at this!" Reiji said suddenly, pulling the D-3 out of his pocket.

Impmon's eyes widened as he realized what it was. He began to reach out towards it, but quickly caught himself and pulled his hand back. "Is it… is it yours?"

"Er, no… it's not mine." The boy replied, stuffing it back into his pocket. He found it a bit strange that the digimon had almost grabbed it, and he was sure he'd get in more trouble than he was already in if he lost it. "It belongs to someone else." Reiji decided to skip the details about how it'd fallen into his possession. "It let me into the digital world, though, even though I don't really think I'm supposed to be here."

Impmon kept staring at the boys pocket, tracing the outline of the digivice with his gaze. "That gives me an idea, you know." He said, glancing back up towards Reiji. "Maybe no one's really special, it's just the tools that people are given. And hey, can I say something else?"

"Sure." Reiji nodded, still listening intently.

"I don't mean to be forward, but I think you were _meant_ to fall into the digital world today!" The little digimon pointed a gloved finger up at the boy. "I've been wandering along without a partner for who knows how long now, and here you are! Crossing paths couldn't be a coincidence, huh?"

Reiji's eyes brightened, and he was going to say something, but he heard his name being called off in the distance. "Shit…" he muttered, pushing his hand into his pocket and clutching onto the D-3.

"It's them, isn't it?" Impmon asked, turning around to face the direction the voices were coming from. He frowned in disgust, although Reiji couldn't see.

"Yeah." He said. Daisuke's voice was too recognizable.

"Well look," Impmon began, "I'm sure you're going to have to give that fancy device back, but we're meant to be partners! I can feel it! I'll figure out a way to get you back here, but until then, make sure not to mention me, okay?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Reiji's words stumbled out of his mouth as Daisuke's voice became louder and louder. "Why?"

"Heh," Impmon chuckled, "If those chosen children know you've got a digimon partner, they won't like it! They can't be the heroes if us average folks are pairing up."

"Mmm." Reiji nodded, it made enough sense. "Okay then. Until next time. I'm glad I met you today, Impmon."

"Me too!" The little digimon replied as he hurried the human off. As he watched Reiji disappear back into the forest, a soft pink butterfly landed on his nose. With one swift movement he snatched it into his paw and crushed it, littering its remains across the ground.

* * *

It didn't take long for Daisuke to demand his D-3 back after they'd managed to find Reiji.

"Gimme that!" he exclaimed as he snatched it out of his hands. "What's wrong with you?! Why would you run into the digital world on your own?!"

"I'm sorry." Was all Reiji could muster as he felt the emptiness in his pocket. The apology sounded empty but he found it hard to care. "I just… really wanted to see it."

"Well I hope you're happy with yourself." Taichi said strictly. "You really caused a lot of trouble for us."

Reiji didn't respond to that. He actually found it hard not to shoot Taichi a glare. Being around the two 'chosen children' felt a little toxic. All the boy could think about was what type of 'heroes' they actually were, but Impmon had given him a pretty good idea.

Daisuke pulled out his d-terminal and messaged Koushiro to let him know that they'd found Reiji unharmed. It hadn't taken long at all, thanks to the tracking device.

The message was still well received though, and back in the real world Koushiro let out a giant sigh of relief.

"They found him?" Mimi asked, peeling her eyes away from the computer screen to glance over at him.

"Thankfully." He replied. "We need to be more careful now that humans know about the digital world. Who knows what could happen if an average kid got lost in there."

Mimi tried to imagine the possibilities, but they were truly endless. This was a new age of sorts. The two worlds were supposed to co-exist, and her and her friends were supposed to act as the overseers. Perhaps that was going to be a rougher job than she'd expected it to be.

Almost as if something wanted to confirm Mimi's fears, the two red dots that represented Takeru and Hikari disappeared off the map. The girl looked blankly at the screen for a moment, like it was some sort of glitch or a giant trick. Where did they go?

"Er, Koushiro…" she said quietly, unsure if she should panic or not.

"What?" He turned around and saw the worried look on her face. He repeated his question again, but with more immediacy. "What happened?"

Mimi took a second look at the screen just to make sure her eyes hadn't fooled her. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she informed Koushiro of the news. "Takeru and Hikari… They're gone."

* * *

 **Alright, there's a second chapter for you! I hope you enjoyed it. Things are still building up but expect the next addition to be a very interesting one. I'm excited to continue exploring the changing relationships the chosen children are experiencing, and I'm excited to reveal more about the villains.**

 **Please feel free to leave a review with any and all constructive criticism, comments, or corrections. I'm making a point to try and add honorifics into the story and I've found a handy chart to guide me, but I'd be a little embarrassed if I messed any up.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **garudamon**


	3. Changing Tides

**Chapter 3: Changing Tides**

* * *

"Hold on tight!" Angemon commanded, his strong voice echoing as he lifted Takeru into the air.

"You too, Hikari." Angewomon added on as she followed along behind him.

They'd just parted ways from Taichi, Daisuke, Agumon, and V-mon, and were headed in the direction of the alert that Koushiro received earlier that day. The small group was passing over the forest and could see sand-covered landscape off in the distance.

"I hope Taichi and Daisuke don't run into any trouble." Hikari glanced over at Takeru and flashed him a worried look.

"Don't worry!" Takeru called back to her, grinning reassuringly. "I'm sure your brother has everything under control."

The younger Yagami had faith in her brother and in Daisuke as well. For as reckless as the two of them used to be, they'd certainly leveled out and come into their own. Hikari had always admired her brother, though. Whatever he said, she would do. When he offered her advice, she'd follow it without question. She'd pinned Taichi as being wise before anyone else could see it. That didn't mean that she didn't worry about him, though.

Hikari felt anxious as they approached the desert and she wasn't sure whether to attribute it to her worry for Taichi and Daisuke or her worries about what they might be approaching. She couldn't see anything in the distance but sand. There were no plants, no trees, and certainly no digimon. As they closed in on the location things became eerily quiet. What could have possibly caused the alert if nothing was around to be disturbing?

"Let's all keep our eyes peeled." Angemon reminded them.

"Right."

Once they reached the edge of the forest, Angemon and Angewomon descended. They placed their partners on the ground and looked around them. There was still nothing.

"So what do you think sent the alert?" Takeru asked, breaking the silence as goosebumps began to form on his arms.

"I'm not sure." Angemon replied, scanning his surroundings cautiously. "There's nothing here, but I feel strange."

"Let's get moving so we can get Takeru and Hikari out of here as quickly as possible." Angewomon responded, glancing towards the kids. "I don't like this."

The four of them walked together further into the desert. They kept their eyes peeled, but there was still nothing. Every now and then a gust of wind would come through and sweep the sand up with it, twirling it around in the air before dropping it down five or ten feet away. Between the gusts of wind, the sun was unbearable. Hikari didn't know whether she was getting dehydrated, but the further she went into the desert, the more faint she began to feel. The rest of the group was getting a little ahead of her but she couldn't will herself to walk any faster.

Hikari glanced down at her heavy feet and wondered why it took so much effort to pick them up. She felt as if something was weighing her down, wishing to take her under the sand. The girl looked back ahead and realized her three friends were going on like normal. What was wrong with her? She treaded along like she was walking through water.

Hikari's ears perked up upon that realization. She could hear waves crashing distantly, but there was no water in sight. She froze and suddenly felt water rushing over her feet like she was standing at the meeting of the land and the sea. Still though, there was nothing.

"Takeru… Angewomon…" Hikari called out, noticing her friends were now several meters in front of her. "I… I don't feel so well."

Takeru instantly turned around and dashed back towards her. "What's wrong?" he asked, furrowing his brows in concern once he realized she looked pale.

"Hikari?" Angewomon followed along behind him, looking down protectively at her partner.

Hikari let out a shaky breath. "There's water… don't you feel it?"

Takeru's look of concern grew into one of confusion. "Water?"

"I can hear it, too." The girl went on. "I feel bad."

Takeru spun around to take a second look at his surroundings. He believed his friend, but why wasn't he experiencing the same phenomenon that she was?

"Perhaps it's best that we leave." Angewomon suggested.

"I agree." Angemon added on. "We won't be able to investigate anything so long as we're not all feeling our best. We can regroup and come back."

Takeru felt a bit disappointed, but he nodded. As much as he wanted to figure out what was going on, he wanted to get his friend home safely. "Alright, let's head back then."

It didn't take Hikari long to offer up a weak apology. "I'm sorry. It's my fault we couldn't do what we were supposed to. I hope Koushiro isn't mad."

"He'll understand." Takeru assured her. "But Angemon is right. Maybe we're unprepared. Let's come back later."

The two angel digimon were preparing to lift their partners back into the air, but a low growling came from the distance. Everyone froze as they strained to see what was coming towards them. There were dark figures- tons of them- headed right in their direction.

"What are those?!" Hikari cried out as her digimon put her back on the ground, getting ready to potentially fight. Angewomon clenched her fists and took a half step in front of her partner.

"I don't know." She replied cautiously, but we're about to find out."

The four of them stood and held their ground as the distant shadows turned into ten figures, then twenty, then thirty, and continued to multiply. As they got closer Takeru and Hikari could make out their aquatic characteristics. They were short and blue with white stomachs and they all had fins for feet.

"Divermon?!" Takeru exclaimed, "What are they doing in the middle of the desert?!"

Angemon had another question. "And why are there so many?"

The monsters had red, glowing eyes, and their coloring was darker than usual. Before they could get too close, Angemon and Angewomon blasted off towards them.

"I wonder if these guys were the source of the alert." Takeru pondered as he worriedly looked over at the commencing battle.

Hikari put her head in her hands and groaned. She still felt faint and all she could think about was laying down.

One of the Divermon initiated the fight by yelling out "striking fish" and attacking Angemon with his trident. Angemon quickly moved back and lifted himself higher into the air, shouting "hand of fate" as he shot a bright beam of energy at the monster that had just struck him. Angewomon followed with her own attack, taking out a Divermon that was creeping up behind the other angel digimon.

As the digimon fought, Takeru was becoming more and more concerned about Hikari. She was on the ground now, her knees digging into the sand. He was unaware, though, that his friend was now feeling water washing over her thighs. Hikari felt as though a tide was coming in and waves were crashing closer and closer to her.

"We need to start moving out of the desert!" Takeru told her, speaking loudly enough to be heard over the battle. "There's too many Divermon! We're going to need to run!"

The girl knew that wasn't possible. She could barely gather the energy to look up at him, so she figured she could forget about getting up altogether. Something was sucking the life out of her.

"Come on, Hikari! I'll carry you!" Takeru lent down to grab hold of her arm, but then he heard a voice call his name off in the distance.

"Takeru!"

It wasn't Angemon's, nor was it female. It was someone familiar, though. Takeru spun around and saw three digimon coming towards him. He squinted his eyes and made out Metalgreymon, Atlurkabuterimon, and Lilimon. They were flying in a line with Taichi, Koushiro, and Mimi on their backs.

"Takeru!" Koushiro called out once again.

Once they were close enough, they landed and the three older digidestined jumped down to the ground.

"What's going on?!" Koushiro demanded to know as he looked out over the fight going on in the distance. The perfect level digimon took off to help, and Metalgreymon launched an attack.

Taichi's eyes locked on his sister on the ground and his face paled. "Hikari!" He dashed towards her and knelt down next to her. "What's wrong?!"

"Onii-chan?" The girl muttered, finally looking up. She let her hands drop down to her sides and she looked at him in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

The girl's eyes were dark and she still looked a bit ill. Taichi was looking at her with deep concern, his brown orbs looking more present than hers.

"We need to get her out of here." The older Yagami said suddenly, looking up at his friends.

Mimi glanced back over the battle and noticed that the Divermon were appearing to multiply. Whenever one was deleted, two more seemed to show up. She quickly agreed. Koushiro was hesitant, but eventually he gave in.

"Fine." The redhead obliged. "There's too many Divermon, anyways. We need to get everyone else. Now that we know what the alert was about, we can start to prepare."

Taichi motioned for his digimon to come back towards them. "Let's get out of here!" he called out, helping his sister stand up. Takeru's first instinct was to rush to Hikari's other side to help, but he remained where he was and let her older brother act the part. She seemed to be more responsive to him, anyways.

Angemon and Angewomon held the Divermon off as the other children got prepared to leave. Metalgreymon scooped both Taichi and Hikari up in his hands. Mimi, who was too big for Lilimon to carry, joined Koushiro on Atlurkabuterimon. Angemon and Angewomon both fired their last attacks before speeding off and rejoining the group. Angemon grabbed onto Takeru's hand and picked him off the ground along the way.

Once they were all safely in the air, Mimi looked behind her and noticed the Divermon didn't seem to be following them. It was like they didn't want to leave the confines of the desert. "That's so strange…" she muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

Koushiro overheard her. "What's strange?"

"They're not following us." She gestured behind them and Koushiro turned to look. "Why are they even in the desert anyways?"

Amid the chaos, Koushiro hadn't stopped to think about that. Normally Divermon were found in water. A desert seemed like it would be the most unnatural place for them. He pondered for a moment, but he had nothing. "I'm not sure. That's a really good question… At least we found everyone."

"Found?" Mimi asked inquisitively. "Your computer said they were gone, but they were never missing."

Koushiro grew silent again. She was absolutely right.

* * *

Daisuke sat with Reiji in Koushiro's room while they waited for everyone to return. The chosen child was a bit agitated that he was the one assigned to keep an eye on the other boy while everyone else got to go in and see some action. Koushiro, Taichi, and Mimi had gone into the digital world about a half hour ago and Reiji remained silent the entire time. He sat motionlessly in one of Koushiro's computer chairs.

To be honest, Daisuke was confused as to why he'd stayed so long. The older digidestined wanted to lay it in to him for sure, but it's not like he was under arrest. He figured that Reiji would get too bored soon and leave. What was he supposed to do if that happened? Hold him down until the others got back? Who knew how long that could take!

Eventually, Daisuke's predication became true and Reiji got up.

"This is stupid." He muttered. "I'm going home."

"What?" Daisuke perked up. "You can't just leave."

"Oh?" Reiji spat. "I don't need to sit around here and wait for your friends to get back just so they can talk about how you all are the only special ones. I've been here long enough."

"Dude, come on, Koushiro said to stay." Daisuke groaned, sick of the boy's complaining. He couldn't figure out why Reiji kept referring to them as 'special', either. It's not like they were idols.

Reiji rolled his eyes. "Well Koushiro isn't here. It sounds like he's too busy screwing up the digital world. If he wants to talk to me later he can find me himself, but to be honest, I don't really care what he has to say."

Daisuke was really getting fed up now. He stood from his chair, knocking it back. "Can you just shut up and wait? You're acting like a prick."

"Whatever." Reiji muttered, heading for the door. He pulled it open dramatically and waltzed through it, eyeing Daisuke to remind him that he couldn't really be stopped.

"Shit." Daisuke moaned under his breath once the boy was out of sight. He couldn't do much to bring him back, but he was really sick of letting his friends down. He bit his lip for a moment and fought with himself before deciding to run to the front door. He threw it open and saw Reiji down at the other end of the hallway.

"Hey!" He called out angrily. "You know, you caused a lot of problems for us! The least you could do is get back here and apologize to everyone."

"Apologize?" Reiji laughed at that. From what he learned from Impmon, they didn't deserve any apologies. It's not like the digital world was _their_ terrain. "Yeah, right!"

Daisuke took a step forward at that, like he was about to bolt after him. Reiji noticed and gave him a skeptical look.

"What are you going to do, chase me? I could outrun you any day. I already do it on the soccer field."

"Shut up!" Daisuke yelled back.

Reiji smirked at getting a rise out of him and went on. "I don't know what Taichi sees in you. Not that Taichi's that impressive of a player. He's selfish and graceless, but I guess that kind of makes sense then, doesn't it?"

Daisuke clenched his hands into fists and took another step forward. "You're such a fucking asshole!" he called out, ready to run at him and fight if he said one more thing. Reiji didn't, though. He just laughed again and walked into the stairwell.

"Fuck!" Daisuke cursed again, spinning around and kicking the wall behind him. "We should have left him in the digiworld." He threw the door open and sauntered back inside. "It would have only been a matter of time until something came along and ate him…"

* * *

Sora was happy to finally be home. She took her shoes off at the door and inhaled deeply, taking in her house's scent. It always smelled like flowers, for reasons that were obvious enough, but it also smelled like clean laundry and fresh air. It was familiar and comfortable.

"Mom?" She called out as she headed towards the living room. Sora passed by the kitchen and saw her mom making dinner.

"You're home!" Mrs. Takenouchi exclaimed. "You were gone all night. Did you stay at Mimi's?"

"Yeah…" Sora replied, trying not to turn red and give away the reason why. "I figured it'd be better than walking home late at night."

"Well I'm glad you're back." Her mother replied.

Sora nodded slowly, eyeing the couch. She definitely felt like taking a nap.

"Oh!" Mrs. Takenouchi went on, "Some mail came for you. I think it's from school. I put it on your desk."

"School?" Sora asked, dreading the idea of having to fill out any more paperwork. She groaned and shuffled towards her room, pulling her bag along behind her.

"Sora." her mom said quietly from behind her, causing her to turn around.

"Yeah?"

"Just so you know," she smiled softly, "I'm really proud of you."

The girl sighed and smiled back. "Thanks Mom."

After she plopped her things down on her bed, she shut her door and took a seat at her desk. There was a large manila envelope waiting for her.

Sora wondered if she was supposed to look forward to getting things from her university. Did other people? Taichi sure seemed excited to be heading off on a new adventure. Yamato, however quiet he'd been about his plans, had never complained.

" _I'm going to study physics."_ She remembered him announcing, his voice cool and calm as ever.

Taichi and Yamato both seemed to enjoy the subjects they picked to study, though. That was the difference between her and them. Taichi had thought long and hard about what focus on, and he eventually decided on international relations. Yamato had grown an interest in physics during high school and quickly excelled at it. As Sora pulled out a giant book of course listings from the package, she realized she was meant to look through them and pick out which ones she was going to take during her first semester.

The girl opened up to the first page and glanced over a welcoming letter from the head of the math department. He wrote about how excited he was to have all of the new students and how he hoped they'd excel and go on to be great mathematicians.

Sora- a mathematician? She didn't really like the way that sounded in her head. She wondered what mathematicians even did. Although math seemed like a simple thing to study in school, Sora never thought to think about what she would do with it. Perhaps she'd been too rash and shortsighted with her decision.

The redhead turned the page and noted the long list of calculus courses. On the next page there was algebra. She struggled to get a grasp of what requirements there were and how many of each section she'd have to take. A few pages after that there were higher level classes that built off all the entry ones. There was one common theme though- all of them seemed incredibly boring. She couldn't even focus on reading the descriptions.

And all of this for what? Sora didn't want to teach, she didn't want an office job, and she didn't want to do anything financial. She didn't want her daily life to become repetitive and mundane. But she also remembered how happy her parents were when she told them what she'd be going to school for. It would be a nightmare to try and reverse her decision now, and that's when she felt her breath start to shorten.

Sora lurched forward in her chair and felt her chest tighten. Her eyes widened as she tried to steady the rising and falling of her chest, but it was no use. She could feel her skin getting clammy and her eyes started to water.

Terrified that she was having some sort of medical emergency, she tried to call out to her mom but it was no use. Her voice was cracked and quiet and it could barely be heard over her heavy breathing. Her head began to spin and everything around her started looking fuzzy, like her mind was preparing her to pass out. Sora stood and stumbled towards her bed, struggling to lay down before her shaky legs gave out and forced her to collapse to the floor. She was hot, and her blankets made her back sweat, but she was thankful to not have to expend energy by sitting up.

Sora kept focusing on her breathing, panicking more because she couldn't seem to will herself to stop panicking, and for what? She couldn't shake the feeling that someone was coming to get her, or that something terrible was meant to be happening, but all she'd been doing was looking at her math courses.

At this point, the girl could feel herself completely sweating. She laid flat on her bed and stared up at her ceiling, trying to count as she inhaled and exhaled. Eventually the counting seemed to be working as her chest steadied, but then she started to feel exhausted. It was like she'd just run a marathon. She was out of breath, her muscles hurt, she was sweaty, clammy, and had no idea why any of that had happened.

Had she made it all up? She considered getting her mother for a moment, but all she could think about was sleeping. Sora curled up in a little ball on her bed and glanced over at her desk where her packet of courses remained. All she wanted to do was throw it away.

* * *

Yamato could smell burning food through his front door. He instantly knew his father had tried to cook again.

"Dad?" he called out as he walked inside, bass in hand.

"I'm in the kitchen!" he called back, his voice a bit strained.

The boy left his things at the door and walked in. There was a thin layer of smoke in the air.

"I could have made dinner…" Yamato said quietly. "You're gonna set the fire alarm off."

"Well, I got home from work early!" Mr. Ishida replied as he bent over to pull a tray of food from the oven. "I figured I'd treat you."

Yamato stared skeptically at his father. "Treat me?" he laughed.

"Listen," his father said, glancing up to shoot his son a visual warning, "I made dinner. You could appreciate it."

"I do, Dad!" Yamato put his hands up in defense. "Let me get some plates. We'll see how easy whatever-you-made is to eat."

Mr. Ishida sighed as his son set the table for the two of them. He'd never been the best cook but he did want to do something nice for his son every once in awhile. Soon he'd be moving out and going to school and he was running out of chances to have dinner on the table for him when he came home. Plus, he had some news, and he wasn't sure how Yamato was going to feel about it.

Mr. Ishida waited until they were both seated and ready to eat before he began to think about telling his son what was on his mind. He delayed himself by asking too many questions.

"How was your day?"

"Did band practice go well?"

"You didn't get too drunk last night, did you?"

"Dad!" Yamato finally exclaimed, thinking that he was acting peculiar. The blonde watched as he fiddled with his food.

"Sorry." He shrugged, putting his fork down neatly next to his plate. "I'm a little uh, nervous."

"I can tell…" The blonde began, watching his father carefully. "What's up? Did you have a bad day at work?"

"No, no," Mr. Ishida began, shaking his head, "it's not about work. I uh-" he paused, glancing up to look at his son. He watched for any sign of realization on his face but there was nothing. He sighed. "Yamato, I met someone."

Yamato blinked, the words passing through him before what his father had said actually hit him. "You what?"

His father looked at him seriously. "I met someone."

"A woman?" Yamato asked, just to make sure he'd heard things correctly.

"Yes, a woman." His father clarified, his response a bit gruff. He was trying to figure out how his son was reacting but too little emotion was being shown.

Yamato stayed silent for a moment and furrowed his brows. He'd always known his family wasn't going to get back together, but it had just been him and his dad for such a long time. He wanted to ask so many things- who was she? Where did they meet? Was it serious? Would she be coming around? But at the same time, he didn't really care. He didn't want to know. He wanted things to go on as they had been. They'd both been happy that way, right?

He kept his face as blank as possible. Yamato wanted his dad to be happy, of course, but for some reason he didn't want to seem particularly affected by the news. "Have you told Takeru?"

"Takeru?" His father looked back at him confusedly. "Er, no. I figured I'd tell you first. I haven't seen your brother in a few weeks. This woman, um, Ume, she'll probably come around soon, so I just wanted you to know."

Yamato nodded and took a bite of his food. Ume. Great. She had a name.

* * *

Back at Koushiro's apartment, Daisuke was busy trying to explain that Reiji had left.

"That kid…" Taichi muttered angrily. "He's got no respect for anyone else."

"You're telling me." Daisuke rolled his eyes, his hands crossed tightly across his chest. He couldn't clear his head of the rude things that he'd said, but he also couldn't bring himself to pass them on to anyone else. He didn't see a need to make anyone more frustrated.

"Well, what's done is done." Koushiro interjected. "We just need to make sure this doesn't happen again. This is the first time in the history of the world that anyone's known about any parallel worlds, so we all need to keep track of our things and be aware of who's around us."

"Right." The group said, Daisuke a bit more quietly than the others.

Koushiro still had no idea how Reiji had managed to open the digiport with someone else's D-3, so he wanted to make sure everyone was cautious until he figured it out.

Taichi glanced over at his sister, who seemed to be regaining some of her energy. He still worried about her even though she was growing up and he was nervous his emotions were showing on his face. He quickly diverted his eyes.

"And the alert?" Mimi asked, looking expectantly at Koushiro. She'd said before that Takeru and Hikari had never really disappeared- it only appeared like they had.

"I don't know." Koushiro replied, defeated. "I'm assuming it was all those Divermon, but I still can't explain the shift in data. We couldn't really get in there to find out, so I'm going to try and figure it out. I'll let you guys know as soon as I do."

"Koushiro…" a small voice began. Everyone spun around to look at Hikari. She glanced at her older brother, almost as if she was looking for his reassurance that what she was about to say wouldn't be stupid. "When we were in the desert, I heard water. I felt it too. It was like something was draining the energy out of me, and I've only ever felt like that once before."

Takeru felt his hands form fists as she spoke. "The dark ocean…" he muttered under his breath.

"The dark ocean?" Taichi asked, glancing from Takeru to his sister. "You were there?"

Hikari looked at him apologetically. "Once. Someone called me there and I felt just like I felt earlier."

Taichi snapped his head back to Takeru. "And I never knew about this?"

Takeru didn't answer. He could feel his nails digging into his palms. They were supposed to be done dealing with that sort of darkness. He kept his eyes locked firmly on the ground and chose to address Koushiro instead of Hikari's protective older brother. "If that really was the dark ocean we were feeling, we need to do something about it as soon as possible."

Koushiro was lost. Normally he'd be able to come up with some sort of plan but he had no idea what sort of energy they were dealing with. He knew Takeru wouldn't want to hear it, but they needed to wait.

"The digimon agreed to keep an eye on things for now. Tentomon will let me know if anything immediate comes up."

Takeru furrowed his brows, his voice low and raspy. "Then we'll be too late."

Daisuke had remained silent the entire time. He hadn't been able to help out with the dark ocean when it'd taken Hikari before and he felt even more useless now. If he knew one thing for sure, though, it's that Koushiro's decisions were to be trusted. He also felt the need to redeem himself, so he spoke up supportively. "What would we do if we made any rash decisions? Koushiro's right. We need to wait for more information. If we go back in before we're ready, someone might get hurt."

Takeru was stunned at that. It wasn't like Daisuke to want to wait, especially when the digital world might be in danger. Takeru trusted his friend too, though. Daisuke had never let anything _seriously_ bad happen in the past. "Alright."

"Why don't we all go home." Taichi said, sounding more like he was making a command than asking a question. Hikari knew she'd have a lot of explaining to do.

Takeru and Daisuke agreed, and soon it was only Koushiro and Mimi left in the room. She waited until she heard everyone else leave the apartment before breaking the silence between them. "If we were really in the dark ocean, that would explain why Hikari and Takeru couldn't be seen on your computer."

Koushiro spun around in his chair and looked up curiously at her.

She continued cautiously. "It's like they… transferred dimensions, sort of, isn't it?"

"I suppose…" The redhead responded, wondering what she was getting at.

"Well if we did that, wouldn't it be possible for something to cross over the opposite way? We banished Daemon there years ago."

Koushiro felt his face pale. He wasn't willing to believe that was possible, at least not in his conscious mind. He didn't want to acknowledge that question- not because it was stupid- but because the answer terrified him.

"We need to figure out if what we experienced was actually the dark ocean." He said, leaving it at that. Koushiro believed in the scientific process. He wanted to figure one thing out before jumping to the next question, especially when it was a question with such a huge implication. He also knew that Mimi was the type of person to trust her gut. It was just… her gut was usually right.

He kept his eyes locked on her for an extra second, and in that second he felt all of her worry. She knew she was right, too.

A 'bing' came from Koushiro's computer and startled him. He spun back around and noticed an email in his inbox.

"What is it?" Mimi asked, primed to believe it was something urgent.

Koushiro didn't recognize the address that it came from. He quickly read over the message. It wasn't related to digimon, but it still left him dumbfounded.

He spoke to Mimi while rereading the letter, just to make sure he'd understood it correctly. "I don't know who it's from, but he wants to meet me. He says he was friends with my dad…"

He turned back around, and this time it was Mimi who felt his emotion. Her eyebrows shot up and she felt guilty for looking so surprised. "Y-your dad?" She'd never really spoken to Koushiro about his family before, but she knew what happened to his parents.

Koushiro knew he had no scientific process for this. Mimi was the one who was good with emotions. "This is a lot… I don't know what to do."

Mimi walked up to him, wondering how she was supposed to provide comfort. Koushiro confused her sometimes. She figured that he was still human though, so she put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "I think you should do what you think is right. If he really wants to meet you, I'm sure he'll do it on your time."

Koushiro was at a loss for words. He felt himself jolt slightly at Mimi's touch, but then it became calming. "Maybe you're right. I should meet him, but maybe I should wait until I'm in the right mindset."

"That sounds like a good idea!" She offered him a small smile and took her hand back. "And don't worry about talking to me if you need someone to sort things out with. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

Mimi hoped her offer wasn't too forward, but it seemed to be well received. "Thanks, Mimi." Koushiro replied, and if she wasn't mistaken, she saw the smallest tinge of red spread across his cheeks.

* * *

Across town, Reiji found himself sitting on a park bench looking out over the harbor. The sun was beginning to set and the sea seemed to go on forever. Nothing but water could be seen past the horizon. He couldn't help thinking about Impmon and the digital world. He rolled a stone over in his hand and threw it out into the crashing waves.

"Stupid… shit…" he muttered to himself when it didn't skip like he'd intended it to. It sunk straight to the bottom of the ocean.

Reiji had never been fond of Taichi and Daisuke. He'd meant it when he called them selfish football players. Talking to Impmon really sealed the deal, though. Deep down perhaps he knew that he had jumped the gun by believing everything he'd heard, but it just seemed to make so much sense. He wanted that narrative to be true, and so it was. Taichi and Daisuke couldn't possibly be the heroes they thought they were. No. Not them.

Reiji thought back to the year before when his school football team had made it to the semi-finals during a tournament. He had the ball and was dashing towards the goal. It was going to be his moment. They were one point down, and tying with the other school would give them more time to make a come-back. As he sprinted, he began to drift off into his thoughts and didn't see a defender coming straight for him. He tripped over himself, and the clock ran down before his team had another chance to score.

 _"Good going, Reiji."_ Taichi had said to him in frustration.

Everyone else thought Taichi was a good guy and a kind captain, but he had never seen it. And Daisuke? He was pathetic, trailing behind the older boy like some sort of lost puppy.

He knew their true character. How could they be responsible for something like the digital world? They couldn't.

Reiji chucked another rock at the water, and once again it failed to skip. The waves ate it whole.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I apologize for the long wait. I had some things going on, but I've managed to get it finished. I also truly appreciate the reviews that everyone's been leaving. It's really encouraging that people are reading the story and think enough of it to leave some thoughts. I also appreciate people pointing out some confusing aspects, so I've tried to tie a few things together in this chapter that might have gone over my head had others not pointed them out. A good friend of mine (user gr0wlmon) has been kind enough to beta read everything for me, but I think it might be easy for us to miss some potentially confusing things since we both know the basic plot? Once again, I'm always trying to improve my writing so I truly do appreciate the honest feedback. I hope you all do trust me with the plot though! I'm working on making Reiji's point of view more understandable, but that will come with time.**

 **Anyways, I think this chapter led in to a lot of things, and I'm really excited to start getting into each character's individual struggles. A lot of reviews have asked about relationships, and although they will vary and help with character development, they won't be extremely central to the plot itself so I hope you all don't hate me if I don't write about one you're really hoping to see! I do love exploring different relationships, so you might be expecting some, you might not be expecting others, who knows! :)**

 **I expect things to really pick up in the next chapter, so I hope you'll check back for updates. I've also been trying to respond to most of the reviews I'm getting, at least with some sort of thanks. I wasn't able to do it for the past chapter because I was busy but I'm still very thankful. Once again, thanks for reading. I'm still amped to be back writing fanfiction after a very long hiatus.**

 **garudamon.**


	4. In Over Our Heads

Chapter 4: In Over Our Heads

* * *

The deed had been done. He'd seen those devices many times before. Those… holy devices. They could open and close portals into whatever worlds they pleased. They were the key to his success.

Although he'd managed to mess with data- rewiring portals, accessing valuable information, learning more and more about parallel worlds- he was at the end of his capabilities. The digital world was no joke. Every time he thought he'd made a large accomplishment, it was like everything he'd found and stored was erased. For awhile, he thought someone was sneaking into his hard drive while he slept to erase his day's work.

That holy power, though- it seemed unstoppable. The only problem was that that power was in the hands of children. His employers had warned him that they couldn't do anything unethical, but how could he complete his task while playing by the rules? He held his resignation letter in his hands. He was his own man, now, and no one was watching him. He would soon be known as the man that broke the barrier between the two worlds, and he would do it on his own accord. The digital world would be his, and so would all of the lucrative profits.

For now, though, he needed everything to remain as it was. The man had one final trick up his sleeve. Before logging off his computer for the final time, he typed some sort of code into a digital program.

"Good…" he muttered to himself. "If I can't get into the digital world as I please, no one can. Not yet."

And with that, the digiports around the world shut down. The man was sure that no one could tamper with the virus he put into effect. He would be the first, the only, the all-powerful.

* * *

" _Hikari… Hikari… I'm coming for you, Hikari."_

The brunette girl gasped and shot up in bed, her nightmare becoming so terrifying that it kicked her awake from sleep. Her brother must have woken up too, because she heard him grumble from the bottom bunk.

"Hikari? What's wrong?"

She pulled her blankets up over her shoulders and responded quietly, "Nothing, sorry I woke you up."

Taichi wasn't satisfied with that answer. He got up and leaned up against the railing of Hikari's bed. He was tall enough to see over it and the sight of his sister didn't exactly put him at ease. She looked a little shaken, like half of her mind was still stuck in her bad dream.

"I don't believe you." He said simply, in a voice that reiterated how well he knew her. Taichi's eyelids were still lazy with sleep but his gaze was fierce. He wouldn't be laying back down until he was sure Hikari was alright.

The younger Yagami sighed. She knew her brother's persistence all too well. She also knew that she hadn't been feeling normal lately. "I had a nightmare." She explained, unsure about how much detail she could go into without causing him more worry.

"Clearly it was a bad one." Taichi replied. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Hikari thought for a moment. She figured that talking about the dark ocean so much recently was what led to her nightmare, but perhaps talking to her brother would help. "I just had a dream that I was back in the dark world, like I told you about. I've been feeling weird all day."

"Well," Taichi began, reaching out and squeezing her hand, "I'm glad you know it was only a nightmare. No one's getting into this apartment to get you- not with me and Miko on the watch, anyways!" He gestured towards their cat who was sleeping in the corner of the room.

Hikari let a small smile creep onto her face. She nodded and believed him. He'd always looked out for her when he could, but he wasn't always around.

"Why don't you try and get back to sleep?" Taichi continued, noting that they could get a few more hours of shut-eye in before the sun rose.

"Mmm."

The girl laid back down and stared at the ceiling, still feeling a bit restless. She heard Taichi quickly start to snore underneath her and although it was annoying, it was familiar and put her at ease. As her eyes shuttered shut, she hoped she wouldn't fall back into the same dream she woke up from.

* * *

Jyou rolled out of bed and reached for his laptop. He could barely sleep last night because of the anticipation. His summer term grades were meant to be posted, and sure enough they were online.

The boy felt his stomach turn itself in knots as he hesitantly clicked on the link. He knew he didn't do well on his final exams, and he was worried he didn't do well _enough_ to stay in his program. Jyou had managed to get into a competitive pre-med program because of his hard work in high school, but hard work didn't seem to be good enough in university. Everyone in his classes was simply sharper, more quick thinking, more talented.

The page took enough time to load to let Jyou think that maybe he hadn't done as bad as he thought. That hope was quickly crushed, though, when failing exam grades loaded before him.

The boy put his head into his hands and fell back down onto his pillow. How was he going to tell his dad? He didn't do poorly enough to get kicked out of school, but he was certainly on thin ice. One more poor semester would ruin everything.

As he stared at the ceiling, tracing patterns in the wear and tear, he wondered what Gomamon would say. When Gomamon was around Jyou was a chosen child and he had a set purpose. In the real world however, he had no idea what he was doing. For his entire life, Jyou had expected to become a doctor. The entire plan had been laid out for him. However, he never took the time to think about whether he could _actually_ become one.

His dad was always so confident.

Jyou heard his cell phone ring and was torn away from his thoughts. Part of him didn't want to answer. He felt embarrassed knowing he'd failed his exams, and he was sure if he spoke out loud that the disappointment in his voice would give it all away. The caller ID said 'Koushiro', though, so he decided to give it a shot.

"Hello?" His voice was dull.

"Jyou, it's Koushiro!" the boy said, sounding like he was a bit out of breath. "Are you busy?"

Busy? Jyou almost laughed at that. "No. Is everything okay?"

"I'm not sure."

Koushiro had his attention now. Jyou shifted into chosen child mode and began to feel better. Whatever was going on, it would take his mind off reality.

"I've called all the others and they're coming over soon. Can you make it?"

"To your apartment?" Jyou asked, glancing at the clock. It was only 9am. There was a whole day ahead of him that he wasn't looking forward to. "Er, yeah."

Jyou tried to probe Koushrio more, but he either wasn't going to get into details until everyone was together or he really had no idea what was going on. The boy got dressed and prepared to head out. At least could feel productive

* * *

"Well, I'm glad that you all could make it." Koushiro stated, eyeing his friends carefully. He knew that many of them had to cancel plans or make excuses to get to his apartment, but he wasn't interested in hearing any complaining. Not now.

Taichi was the first to speak up. "What's going on?"

The redhead could feel everyone's eyes on him as they eagerly waited for some sort of explanation. "I'm getting to it." He began. "First I need someone with a D-3."

Everyone's eyes turned to someone in the younger group of chosen children. Takeru gripped his D-3 on his waistband and stepped forward. "For what?"

"Try and open the digiport." Koushiro answered bluntly.

Takeru hesitated for a moment, confused. Koushiro didn't provide any extra information, though, so he did as he was told. "Digital gate open!" He commanded, pushing his device towards the screen. There was nothing.

Gasps could be heard throughout the group of friends.

"Ehh, wait a minute." Daisuke grumbled, scrambling to get up next to Takeru. "Let me try. Digital gate, open!" He pointed his D-3 at the computer as well, but there was still no reaction. The brunette looked dumbfounded.

"Just as I suspected." Koushiro murmured. Everyone turned back to look at him.

Yamato spoke up next, his voice calm yet laced with a sense of urgency. "What's going on with the gate?"

Koushiro pulled up an email with a few clicks on his computer. "I got a message from Gennai earlier this morning. Someone's been messing with the network. Our friends in the digital world can normally do a pretty good job of keeping things in order and guarding against entities that aren't supposed to be there, but this is different. Whoever's messing with the digital gates is really smart."

"What do you mean, messing with them?" Daisuke asked sharply.

Koushiro sighed and looked around at his friends with concern. "They're all closed and no one can seem to find a way to reopen them. Nothing can get in, nothing can get out."

"But that's impossible!" Taichi exclaimed. "What type of power must a digimon have to corrupt the data like that- and to render our digivices useless?"

"We're not sure a digimon is behind this." The redhead continued.

Jyou cut in. "So- a human?"

"Perhaps."

"So," Taichi went on, "what you're telling us is that we can't get into the digital world and the digimon can't get into our world? If there's an emergency on either side of the gate we can't help each other?"

"Not right now." Koushiro said. "Everyone who could possibly be working on this in the digital world is working on it. I'm going to do my best to help. Hopefully the connection will be back up soon, but there's really no way to tell."

"I'm worried about Piyomon." Sora said quietly, sparking the concern of everyone else. They began mumbling about their own partners and how they were hoping they would be alright until the gate was opened up again.

Koushiro turned back and looked at his computer. "This would all be so much easier if we could just figure out _when_ exactly the data was being tampered with. If we could pinpoint a point in time we could probably trace the source and figure out who's doing it."

Everyone drifted into their own thoughts, trying to think of some sort of clue that could help. Mimi was the first one to speak up. She furrowed her brow. "Don't you think it's possible whoever's messing with the gate was messing with it when Reiji got into the digital world? I mean, he _shouldn't_ have been able to use Daisuke's D-3 like that. Perhaps it was just open?"

Koushiro stared at her for a moment. Everyone else waited for his reaction, unsure whether what she said was a stretch or the most perfect realization. Mimi looked confident, though, and soon Koushiro went from looking disheartened to looking excited.

"Mimi!" He exclaimed, "You're a genius! I just need to zone in on that point in time- Daisuke, when exactly did Reiji take your digivice, again?"

"Uh, around 4 o'clock yesterday, I guess?" He answered, stunned that his embarrassing mishap might now hold the key to finding whatever enemy they were looking for.

Koushiro sank down into his computer chair and started opening all sorts of programs. The group looked over his shoulders curiously, but none of them understood what he was doing.

"Hey, Koushiro," Taichi began, "when do you think you're going to have all this figured out?"

"It shouldn't take too long." He replied, "Maybe an hour? Maybe a day? I need to consult with Gennai. You all can go if you want. I'll call you when I figure it out."

As the group trickled out, Mimi smirked. It was so like him to say "when" instead of "if". She knew he was going to come up with something, and she was proud that she'd been the one to give him the key to the answer. She just hoped the theory played out.

"I can't believe it." Koushiro turned to her to say once everyone else had left. "That goofy kid might be the biggest help."

Mimi offered him a soft smile. "I guess kids stealing D-3's and breaking into the digital world isn't always all bad!"

Koushiro laughed at that. He wasn't sure whether it was the relief of having a potential solution to the problem, Mimi's presence, or a combination of both- but he felt much happier.

"Now," he continued, "I just need to wait for Gennai to answer."

"Is it alright if I wait with you for a bit?" Mimi asked. She knew her request was weird but she didn't want to leave him with all of the work. Even if she didn't understand much about computers she could still offer him her company.

"Sure." Koushiro replied. He didn't seem to think her offer was out of the ordinary at all. Perhaps in the past he would have, but he seemed quite impressed with how observant she was. "I could probably use the help!"

Mimi smiled again at that. When she thought back to her adventures in the digital world, she figured it was rare that Koushiro asked for help. She felt trusted.

"So," she began, "what do we do once we figure out who's behind closing the ports?"

"We track down the computer they did it from." Koushiro answered. He looked back at her amusedly. Since when did she care about the technical parts of their adventures?

"So?" She asked, egging him on.

Koushiro reiterated what he said before. "Whoever did this is really smart. I'm baffled that Gennai can't figure out how to get the portals open again. If we want to change the coding back to normal, we'll have to hack into the computer that's messing with the data and reverse it from the inside."

Mimi nodded. She wasn't sure what all that would entail, but it made sense for the most part. The two of them fell silent and Mimi suddenly became aware that they were alone. She looked at the boy as he typed away furiously on his computer. So many years had passed yet he was still so passionate about that thing.

There were things that had changed about him, though- his height being one. As Mimi looked at him, she realized that he had grown wider too. His shoulders were broad and he was well built for someone who wasn't terribly active. Mimi supposed he looked like he had more authority. She expected him to say something confident and intelligent when he opened his mouth.

The girl shook her head. It'd been silent the entire time she was thinking. Koushiro didn't seem like he noticed, though. He was still messing with his computer. Eventually he leaned back and let out a sigh.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

The boy spun around in his chair. "It's just frustrating. I wish I had more answers than I do right now. I know we're all worried about our digimon, so it's hard to wait."

"Well," Mimi replied, "why don't you do something to distract yourself? Gennai's always worked on his own time but he's never let us down. I'm sure he'll get back to you as soon as he can."

"Maybe…" Koushiro mumbled, as if tearing himself away from the computer was unfamiliar.

"Hey!" Mimi said suddenly. "Did you ever decide what you were going to say to that man who emailed you?"

Koushiro hesitated. He wouldn't have asked about something so personal unless the other person had brought it up, but he knew Mimi spoke her mind. "Erm, I uh, I did send him a message."

His response was quiet and Mimi second-guessed herself. "Sorry, if you don't want to talk about it…"

"No, it's fine." Koushiro replied. He raised his brows a bit at his response, as if those words shouldn't have come out of his mouth. "He gave me his phone number and told me to call if I wanted to speak with him."

"You probably should!" Mimi said. The look Koushiro gave her let her know she was being a bit too forward, so she reeled herself back in. "I mean, you might learn something neat. It couldn't hurt, could it? If you don't go you'll just be sitting here waiting for Gennai and wondering."

The redhead remained silent. He stared into his computer screen but there was nothing it could tell him. He wasn't built to deal with these kinds of situations. Mimi sounded so reassuring though and he began to believe her words. What _could_ go wrong?

"And, hey..." Mimi spoke up again, causing Koushiro to glance back at her. She felt herself swallow her last bit of nerves. "I know it might be rough, so why don't I buy you dinner after? You know... if you want to talk or anything."

That definitely didn't register. The boy stared at her blankly. Had she just asked him out? Koushiro's mind yelled at him to say something, but he couldn't find the words.

Mimi turned crimson. "But I mean, there's also a lot on your mind, so I'd understand if you just want to be by yourself and-"

"I don't want to be by myself." Koushiro felt himself blush too. His computer screen went dark and he could see his reflection in it. "Not... not through this. I've been alone through things like this before and... I don't want to do that anymore."

He finally locked eyes with her and she offered up a sympathetic smile. She felt weightless. She was helping.

Mimi left the apartment with plans to meet back up with him that night. Koushiro took his phone out and flipped it around nervously in his hand. None of this was familiar. There was no formula to get through it.

* * *

Koushiro looked around the café. The man he was supposed to meet said he'd be wearing a brown sweater and glasses. Someone who met that description was sitting by himself across the room with his nose stuck in a newspaper. He looked like he was about 40 years old, which made sense. That was how old Koushiro's father would have been. The boy took a deep breath and headed over towards him. Meeting new people in person was never a skill of his- especially a person like this.

"Um, excuse me?" He asked politely, putting himself just in view of the man. If it wasn't him perhaps he could pretend to have said nothing.

The man instantly stood. "Can it be you? Koushiro?"

The boy nodded slowly and balked once a hand was thrust towards him.

"My, I can't believe it! Look how you've grown!"

Koushiro glanced at his outstretched hand. It was worn and tough, yet polished. In fact, the man's entire appearance was polished. He'd dressed up nicely and had perfectly trimmed facial hair. His beard was short- the equivalent of a buzz cut- and matched the jet-black color of his hair. His eyes were dark, too, like chocolate with a bit of hazel mixed in.

"Ah, my apologies. You wouldn't remember me, would you?

"I'm sorry... I don't quite..."

"Right." The man left his hand extended, ready for a handshake. "My nerves got away from me! I've been looking forward to this for a really long time. My name is Natsuo. I was good friends with your father. We were co-workers, actually."

So he was nervous, too? Koushiro took his hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you."

"Re-meet, technically." Natsuo corrected. "I knew you when you were a baby. Your father was a great man- incredibly talented at what he did."

"Were you a mathematician too?" Koushiro asked, putting two and two together.

"Still am!" he replied, smiling. He motioned for the boy to take a seat. "My, there are so many things I want to tell you."

Koushiro waited eagerly. If he had felt unsure about coming, that feeling had completely disappeared. He stared back at the man who'd once stared at his father and let himself feel like a child being read to.

The two of them spoke for a while. Natsuo told him endless tales of his father's work, how much his parents were in love, how much they loved him. Koushiro told the man about how he'd grown up with his aunt and uncle. Natsuo asked him about his hourney in the digital world and told him how his moments in the spotlight had helped the man track him down. They spoke of his adventures- briefly- as Koushiro was quick to bring the conversation back to his parents.

He felt refreshed. He'd exhausted every story from his aunt and uncle, and now he had this new material. Koushiro probably could have stayed there for hours, but duty called. His digivice pinged. Gennai had gotten back to him.

"I'm so sorry I have to go so soon." Koushiro apologized as he got up.

"Don't worry about it." Natsuo replied. He glanced down at the device sticking out of Koushiro's pocket. "You must have important things to do. We should meet up again. I miss your father and, well, you're the spitting image of him. You've got his smarts, too."

Koushiro smiled. It wasn't often that he felt so complimented, but he couldn't afford to dwell on it. It was getting to be later in the afternoon and the boy still had a lot of work ahead of him.

* * *

Taichi woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. He rubbed his eyes and realized he'd fallen asleep on the couch. The sun was still up, though, which was good. He hadn't slept the entire day away.

"Hello?"

"Taichi, it's Koushiro!"

The boy yawned and sat up. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Gennai got back to me." he replied. His voice was flat and vacant of the usual excitement that laced it when he typically unveiled news. Taichi could already tell he wasn't going to like what Koushiro had to say.

"Okay..." he said hesitantly. "That was quick. Who's messing with the digiports?"

Koushiro sighed. "We don't know who, but we were able to pinpoint the location of the computer that was used to alter the data."

"Okay, great. Where, then?"

There was a long pause before Koushiro answered him. "Before I tell you, I just need you to know that you're the only person I'm calling about this."

The brunette furrowed his brow. "Um, okay..."

"We're in over our heads on this one."

"Get on with it." Taichi responded, feeling adequately prepared for whatever his friend was about to say.

"The signal is coming from Shinjuku. I zoned in on the coordinates and... Taichi, I don't really know how to explain this one, so I'm just going to say it."

"Koushiro..." He could feel his heart pounding now.

"We have to break into the department of defense."

Taichi felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He gripped his phone tightly in his hand and repeated what Koushiro said- just to make sure he'd heard him correctly. "The... the ministry of defense? The... the government?"

"The government... the military... they're messing with the portals." Koushiro confirmed, "They're trying to gain access to the digital world."

Taichi slumped back down in his seat and ran a hand through his hair. "So, here's something. When you find out that our government is potentially trying to hack into the digital world to gain access to who knows what for some reason we probably would be ten times happier not knowing, and you need to pick a friend to break into military headquarters and potentially get caught and charged with a felony with, you call me?"

"Taichi! Be serious!"

Taichi bolted upright again. "Do I not sound serious?!"

"I don't want to do this either!" Koushiro retorted. "Look, okay, we have a pretty good track record. I don't want to get anyone else in trouble. It'd be stupid for more of us to go."

"Shit." Taichi repeated over and over again, "Shit, _shit_..."

* * *

So, let me start out by saying that I am SO sorry this took such a long time to post. I graduated college, got my first real adult job, and moved all in the span of two months. Things have been pretty crazy on my end, but I was determined to not let this story die. I promise the next chapter will not take nearly as long.

With that being said, I hope you all enjoyed it! I really pushed myself to finish this part, as it'd been sitting half-complete on my computer all summer, so I'm hoping it lives up to expectations. I wanted to get something posted in a somewhat timely manner without sacrificing too much of the quality.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter, and I'm hoping you're all looking forward to reading it.

Shout out to user growlm0n for skyping with me as I edited this to help keep me on track.

-garudamon


	5. So It Goes

Chapter 5: So it Goes

* * *

"Are we still on for tomorrow?" Takeru asked, catching Hikari's attention before she walked away.

"Of course!" she replied cheerfully. "I've been wanting to try that new restaurant for weeks now. Although," she paused, "we might have to reschedule if something comes up with the digital world. It's been a long time since we've had to think about that, hasn't it?"

Takeru nodded. His older brother stood just behind him, staring over his shoulder at the younger Yagami. "It's been a long time, but we have to be ready."

"Mmm…" Hikari mumbled. She shifted her gaze out over the bay, butterflies waking up in her stomach as she watched the waves crash against the shore.

Takeru spun his head around and shot Yamato a frustrated look before speaking up again. "Hey, don't worry though! We won't be separated from our digimon for too much longer. I'm sure Koushiro's already starting to get things figured out."

Hikari offered him a reassuring smile. He always tried so hard to make her feel better and she appreciated it, even if it didn't always work. Her chest felt heavy as she walked away from him.

"Well, see you… soon!" Takeru decided on saying. He waved goodbye and she turned around to do the same.

Once Hikari was out of sight, Takeru turned towards his brother and grimaced. "Ehhh… why do you always have to do that?"

"Do what?" Yamato asked, eyeing his brother carefully.

"That thing you do." He responded before mimicking his brother in a deep, solemn voice. "We have to be ready!"

Yamato rolled his eyes. "Well, we do. And stop that. I don't talk like that."

"Whatever you say…" Takeru mumbled, earning himself a jab in the shoulder. "Hey!"

Yamato defended himself from a rebuttal then turned his attention out towards the bay as well. "I wasn't trying to scare her, I was just being truthful."

Takeru didn't doubt that. He just wished his brother could be a bit more sensitive towards other people's moods. Maybe he didn't see it, but Takeru did. Hikari seemed distant lately, like something was distracting her.

"Anyways," Yamato continued, "I've got to get going. I'm already late to band practice and I've got to show up for a little bit before Koushiro calls us all back. What are you up to today?" he paused for a moment and glanced up towards where Hikari had walked. "Besides hanging out with your girlfriend?"

Takeru felt his eye twitch. "Eh? She's not my girlfriend!"

The older boy smirked, having gotten the reaction he was looking for. "Okay, okay. Whatever you say."

"No, I'm serious." Takeru went on, "Don't say things like that. It's weird."

"Okay!" Yamato repeated, throwing his hands up in defense. "I'm only joking."

Takeru rolled his eyes as Yamato turned to leave. Once the older boy was sure his face was hidden, he let his smirk fade.

Yamato couldn't keep track of his thoughts. There was too much to process. He probably just had a good opportunity to tell Takeru about their dad and his new girlfriend, but he supposed he didn't want to. He felt as if his family had made such great strides towards being able to exist together in the same space, but this was a huge drawback. Yamato wanted his father to be happy, but this made his family even more complicated.

Perhaps he hesitated to bring it up with his younger brother because he knew Takeru would be too chipper about it.

' _Well, that'd good! Don't you think? Dad does need to revitalize his social life…'_ Yamato imagined him saying. Takeru was great at seeing the bright side of everything while Yamato struggled with change.

Then there was this mess with the digital world. As Yamato made his way down the street he remembered his adventures with Gabumon and hoped he was alright. The blonde had no idea what to make of what was going on. Normally he was able to offer some sort of rational idea or set the wheels in motion for a plan, but he struggled to understand how the worlds could be entirely disconnected.

And then there was Sora, and the corners of Yamato's lips twitched downwards at the thought of her.

The boy caught his reflection in a window he was walking past and he wondered how people who were once so close could regress into strangers. At one point, Sora was like a warm summer day. She reminded him of the feeling of stepping out of a pool into sunlight, his skin warming to his surroundings. She inspired him. She was the source of his creativity, his lyrics, his songs. Now though, when Yamato imagined himself stepping out of a pool it was into cold air and there were no towels around for warmth. He struggled to write. When they locked eyes at meetings with the rest of their friends, they quickly looked away from each other like they were embarrassed to have been caught.

Now, Sora had convinced Yamato that he was following in his father's footsteps. Although they were young, there was no one better for him than Sora. In fact, it was their likeness to each other that eventually drove them apart. They were too young to realize that at the time. Perhaps if they had waited…

But it was thoughts like those that drove him mad. Sora was his safety net, and she was pulled out right from under him.

At this point, Yamato had made it to band practice. He went to open the door but he took a moment to remind himself.

' _No one else can be your safety net.'_

* * *

"Sora-kun! Can you slow down a bit?" Jyou called out, trailing a couple feet behind the girl.

"Oh, sorry Jyou-senpai!" the redhead responded, pausing so he could catch up.

"You're a fast walker. Faster than I remember…" Jyou trailed off. "Or maybe I'm just tired."

As if on cue, the boy yawned. Sora raised a brow at him and put a hand on her hip. "And what are you so tired for? We haven't even fought any digimon yet."

Jyou furrowed his brows and looked up at her, sure that whatever he could say would elicit more teasing. "Ehh… I didn't sleep well last night. School, you know."

Sora imagined that Jyou would have difficulty sleeping most nights, with the high intensity of his studies and all. "Becoming a doctor is hard, is it? I would have never guessed!" Sora chuckled and stuck her tongue out, but Jyou wasn't amused.

A defeated look washed over his face. "I'm going to fail all my classes."

"All of them?!" Sora replied, a surprised twang in her voice. "I think you're being a bit pessimistic..."

Jyou quickly interrupted her. "I'm not! I'm serious. I don't think I'm meant to be a doctor. Not as good of one as my dad is, anyways."

Sora stopped walking and glanced back at him. "But this is what you've been waiting for your whole life, isn't it?"

"Well," Jyou went on, and he got into some sort of explanation. However, Sora became distracted. Once those words left her mouth she realized the similarities between Jyou and herself. He had a father who expected something from him, and Sora's mother certainly expected a lot out of her. Well, she used to, at least, but the pressure still remained.

Mrs. Takenouchi always wanted her daughter to fulfill her ikebana legacy. Sora had a certain reputation to uphold. Her family was well known, so it wasn't just her mother who expected something from her. The girl had long dreaded stepping into those shoes, which was part of the reason she'd decided to study math at university. Math seemed to be the farthest thing from the practice of ikebana...

The girl could feel her heartbeat in her head as a wave of thoughts and worry rushed in. Time felt like it was slowing down, and all she wanted to do was get home. Her thoughts became fuzzy and she couldn't bring herself back into focus. A wave of worry washed over her, like something imminent was about to happen, but there was no danger.

"Hey- Sora-kun, are you alright?"

"Oh!" Sora yelped, shaking her head back and forth. She'd snapped out of her trance. "Yeah.. yeah I'm fine. Sorry..." The girl's face grew red and her heart continued to pound. As much as she tried, she couldn't calm herself down.

Jyou began to talk about something else, but Sora found herself incredibly focused on her own future. Her friend's voice sounded like a distant humming in her ears. She fidgeted with her hands as the two of them walked on, making sure to nod every once in a while to convince Jyou she was still listening.

"Well, anyways, I'll see you later Sora-san."

The girl blinked. "What?"

Jyou pointed behind her. "This is your building, isn't it?"

Sora quickly spun around. "Oh... yeah. See you, then!"

The older boy nodded, his face laced with concern. Sora forced a smile. Once she got inside, she realized she was home alone and felt like she didn't want to be there. She needed to do something. She felt restless.

The girl laced up her shoes and grabbed her headphones. Perhaps a run was what she needed. It would give her a chance to get some fresh air and focus. More importantly, it would allow her to continue putting off her paperwork for school.

She pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail and turned the volume on her music up. It was almost dinner time, so she'd have about an hour to complete her workout and get back home.

The streets outside were bustling with people, per usual, so she chose a more scenic route through the park. The foliage was in it's prime. Deep green hues covered everything. It should have been calming, but as Sora ran, she couldn't help but think about her future. Adrenaline still felt like it was coursing through her body like before, but she couldn't figure out what she was so afraid of. Sure, futures were scary, but was this a proper reaction?

The girl slowed down until she reached a walking pace. She took a moment to catch her breathe. Besides a few other joggers off in the distance, no one was around. However, she still felt panicky.

 _'What am I going to do with my life? Maths is so boring! There can't possibly be a career path I'd enjoy. Teaching? No... I could go on to graduate school and do research... but that's so expensive. What's even the use? I'm locked in now. I already accepted the offer to study it. I can't go back. I wish this would stop.'_

Thoughts raced through Sora's head. She felt like she was thinking illogically and it was exhausting. Normally she would take a moment and come up with a plan, but she felt incredibly stuck.

 _'This is set in stone. You can't go back. You should have just studied ikebana with your mother...'_

Her mother would be so disappointed. She already should be. Didn't she always want Sora to follow in her footsteps? Sure, she'd stop pressuring her, but the dream was probably still alive deep down somewhere.

 _Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Sora jumped. The alarm on her phone started going off and it blasted right into her ears.

"4:50?" Sora asked herself. "Why did I set an alarm for- oh! That woman! She's probably waiting for me!"

The girl took one last deep breathe before starting off running again. Her chest felt heavy and her mind unsettled, but at least she had a short term goal. Chiyoko had prepared a gift for her and it'd be rude if she was late.

 _'And then there's that threat to the digital world... I wonder why all the gates are closed. What if an old enemy was coming back to power? Piemon? Belialvamdemon? Oh, Sora! Snap out of it.'_

It wasn't like her to automatically assume the worst, but worst-case scenarios tugged at her brain as she dashed across town. She reached Chiyoko's clothing store just before 5pm and saw the old women organizing the counter top through the window. They caught each other's gaze and offered quick smiles. Sora pushed the door open and went inside, the top corner of it knocking against some bells.

"Just in time!" The old women said, her voice old and wise. "I wouldn't expect anything less from a Takenouchi."

Sora thought about mentioning the alarm she had to set, but she decided to just accept the compliment. She paused inside of the doorway and leaned down- a quick bow out of respect.

"Such good manners too. Come here, I've finished your gift!"

The woman disappeared into the back of the store, her steps small and slow. As Sora watched her go, she wondered how old she was. Chiyoko's mind was quick and witty, yet age had clearly slowed her down.

She re-emerged a few moments later with a small box in her hands.

"I think you'll like this!" Chiyoko said, sounding quite proud. She reached out and placed the box directly into Sora's hands, taking a moment to ensure she had a good grip before letting go. "And I know you want to be polite and try to decline it, but I won't take no for an answer."

Sora smirked and held her tongue. At this point, it would be rude to suggest that she didn't deserve whatever it was. She carefully unwrapped the box and opened the flaps, Chiyoko looking on eagerly the entire time. Inside the tissue paper was a hairclip. It was a red and white flower made from fabric and attached to a bobby pin.

Sora's brows shot up. The gift was home made, and it was beautiful. "It's- it's lovely!" she exclaimed, pulling it out of the box and holding it up to get a better look. The fabric felt like silk and was perfectly stitched together. Sora figured it would have taken her hours to make something like that, but it probably took Chiyoko a matter of minutes.

"Come on, come on! Try it on." Chiyoko said, still smiling and motioning towards a mirror up against the wall. "Let me see how it looks. I hope I sized it right."

Sora nodded and walked over towards the mirror. She gripped a small piece of hair in her hand and carefully pushed the pin through it, so it sat against her head right above her ear. The girl smiled at herself. She liked the way it looked.

Chiyoko piped up behind her. "Well? Let me see."

Sora turned around to face her, still beaming. "It's perfect! How did you make it?"

Chiyoko seemed pleased. Happy crinkles formed around her eyes as she looked at the girl. "Oh, it's a simple design. Would you like me to show you?"

Sora raised her brows. "You would teach me how to make it? But it's yours!"

"It's art." Chiyoko interrupted. "And art is everyone's. Besides, I won't be around forever. Someone should know how to make it."

Chiyoko started heading towards the back of the store once again, motioning for Sora to follow. The girl did as she was told. She was much more excited than she expected to be, and her worries from before had all but disappeared.

* * *

Taichi waited around impatiently for his family to fall asleep. His Mom had gone to bed quite early, which was typical of her. His father, on the other hand, tended to stay up late. On this particular night, he was messing around with his computer, trying to hopelessly code something for work. Hikari sat with Taichi in front of the television, unaware that he was waiting up, until she could no longer keep her eyes open.

"Don't forget to turn all the lights off." She mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

It was just after midnight when Taichi heard the faint sounds of his father snoring. It was time. Taichi felt his legs start to shake.

The boy stood steady and grabbed his jacket. He'd promised Koushiro he'd meet him, and there was no turning back now. This was definitely at the top of the 'scariest missions ever' list, but it was something he had to do.

Taichi was hoping no one would catch him. His black shirt and dark jeans made him look suspicious. As he made his way out, a _'meow!'_ could be heard behind him.

"Shh!" Taichi spun around and pressed his forefinger against his lip. "Shut up, Miko!"

The cat made a grumbling sound, but obeyed. He laid down in the middle of the hallway and watched as Taichi shut the door behind him.

The thing about Odaiba was that it was never really dark. Taichi moved as quickly as he could, hoping that no one would see him. He had no idea how this mission would go, so he could only assume that the less people that saw him, the better. Although it was summer, the air was chilly and dry. The wind picked up throughout Taichi's walk, like the universe was trying to tell him to turn around and go home. Bits of paper and plastic swirled around his feet.

Koushiro was already sat at their meeting point- a park bench covered by foliage a few blocks away from the building they'd be breaking into. He had his computer out, the screen dimmed low, and he was using his sweatshirt to try and absorb some of the light.

Taichi didn't say anything to him until he got in a range that allowed him to whisper.

"Koushiro." he said simply, nodding at the other boy.

Koushiro looked up, unsurprised by Taichi's sudden arrival. "Good. You made it."

Taichi sat down next to him and peered over at his screen. A floorplan of the building was pulled up, and a large red X marked the spot that Taichi figured they'd be trying to get to. He stared at it for a moment, wondering if they'd ever actually reach that point.

"Hey," Taichi started, his voice low and deep, "what are the odds of us successfully pulling this off?"

"Not very high." Koushiro responded, his eyes still glued to his screen.

"You could have at least lied to me." Taichi muttered, slumping down. "This is crazy. We can't just break into some government building. Do we even know what exactly we're looking for?"

"We're looking for a computer." Koushiro stated. He finally stopped typing and looked up. "A computer in that building has a program on it with the ability to distort the digital gates. Both Gennai and I have tried to hack into it, but it didn't work. Our last chance to regain control of the gates is to disable the program from the computer it's already on."

Taichi raised a brow. "Even if we do that, can't whoever created the program just reset it?"

"Perhaps." Koushiro replied. He seemed unphased by his friend's suggestion, like he'd already thought through all the potential loopholes in his plan. "But I'm going to copy the program onto my own computer. I think once I get a good look at it, I'll be able to hack into it in the future."

The brunette had many other questions, but he didn't think it'd be worth it to ask them. Koushiro had everything figured out, per usual, but this was still a risky mission. As the time to enter the building neared, Taichi could feel a certain sickness looming in his stomach. He began to feel thankful that Koushiro hadn't invited all their friends along. He didn't want anyone else to put themselves in such danger.

Koushiro finally closed his laptop, the dim light it provided disappearing entirely. "Are you ready?" he asked, crickets taking over the silence that his voice faded into.

Taichi stood and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He could see the building in the distance. It was dark and cold-looking, it's cement walls looming high against the sky. "I... I don't know... are you sure?"

Perhaps someone else would have thought that sort of hesitation was uncommon for Taichi. Koushiro, however, knew differently. He seemed to be around whenever Taichi froze, and Koushiro would actually argue that he froze quite often.

"You can't bail on me now." Koushiro muttered, stuffing his laptop into his backpack. "The Taichi Yagami I know has fears, but he isn't afraid to face them."

Taichi let out a hollow sigh. He turned to face the building once more and nodded. "Fine. Let's do this."

Koushiro flashed his friend a knowing grin. _That_ was the Taichi he knew. Together, the two of them advanced towards the building, making sure to keep themselves shaded in the shadows as much as they could. When they reached the front gate, Koushiro pulled out his phone and entered a code into the keypad. The metal gate opened, allowing the boys to enter as if they actually worked there.

Taichi blinked. "Well... that was easy enough."

"We're lucky these types of security systems are built to fend off human hackers, and not ones from the digital world," Koushiro responded. "Gennai was able to crack the codes of this building in a matter of minutes."

The two boys carefully made their way towards the large, metal doors, Taichi glancing over at his friend curiously. "How?"

Koushiro smirked. "Let's just say Gennai knows his stuff. I could explain it, but I don't think you want me to."

"Mmm..."

What Koushiro said was proven true as they made it through the front doors and tiptoe'd through the halls. The redhead pointed out every security camera that could have caught their images and was able to disable them. They went past numerous offices filled with computers, files, and papers- none of those of interest to the digidestined. They were looking for one office in particular, and Koushiro led them right to it.

"Here." He said, pausing to double check the office number with what he had written down on his phone. "This is the one. Whoever works here is the one who's been messing with the digital portals."

Taichi peered in through the glass. A red, blinking light on the computer meant it was on. Otherwise, the office was empty. The desk looked like it had just been cleared out. There was no name plate on the door, either.

"I have a weird feeling about this." Taichi murmered, stepping back to let Koushiro pick the lock. The door swung open effortlessly. "And a weird feeling about _that_. Where'd you learn how to pick locks so quickly?"

Koushiro rolled his eyes, categorizing this as another one of Taichi's inquires that didn't need to be answered. "Can we just focus on the mission? I need to connect my laptop to that computer and download the files, and then we need to get out of here."

"Oh, what?" Taichi asked, his tone filled with sass, "You have an important date or something?"

"Wha-?!" Koushiro stammered. There was no way Taichi could have known, but he instantly thought of his last meeting with Mimi. He _did_ have a date- well a date of sorts- but Taichi was only kidding. "No." Koushiro quickly tried to recover, but from the way Taichi was peering over at him, he could tell the brunette knew something was off.

"What the hell kind of reaction was that?" Taichi laughed, snorting a bit.

It was the reaction of someone who _actually_ had a date. As promised, Mimi had taken him out to dinner after his meeting with his father's friend. It was simple- a cute cafe, hesitant conversation, two old friends acting like they'd just met. At the end of it, Mimi suggested they do it again sometime. Koushiro quickly said yes, happy that Mimi seemed to be taking the lead. He didn't know how to act in those sorts of situations, but with Mimi, he felt even more pressure to pretend to know what he was doing. Koushiro definitely didn't know how to tell a mutual friend about their meal together, so he didn't.

"Will you keep your voice down!" The redhead scolded, raising his voice a little as well. He instantly realized how hypocritical he must have sounded.

 _'Click, clack, click, clack'_

The two boys froze as they picked up on footsteps. The sound of someone's boot hitting the ground sped up, like whoever it was had heard them.

"Shit!" Koushiro gasped. He dashed over to the computer and attached his laptop to it. If they were going to get caught, he at least wanted a copy of that program to work on from whatever jail he'd inevitably be sent to. "Taichi, close the door and get down!"

The brunette didn't need to be told twice. He quietly closed the door and locked them inside. With his body pressed up against it, he peered out the glass to try and see who was going by. He motioned for Koushiro to get low once the figure got closer to them.

The redhead knelt down under the desk and hid himself in the shadows. He squeezed his eyelids shut, like the whites of his eyes would be enough to give them both away. Taichi felt his heart pounding fast and his breath becoming staggered. He could see that whoever was approaching was some type of guard.

 _'Click, clack, click, clack, click.'_ And then it stopped.

Taichi held his breathe. He could barely make out Koushiro's outline as he hid. He couldn't think about what would happen if they were caught. What would he do? What would he tell his parents? That was one phone call home he definitely didn't want to make.

 _'Hey mom, you remember Koushiro? The friend you thought was a good influence? The one you always pushed me to hang out with? Yeah, he convinced me to break into the Department of Defense. I'm in jail now, so, can you do something about all this?'_

 _'Click, clack, click, clack, click.'_ The footsteps started again, and continued on until they were too far away to hear. Taichi felt his breath come back to him. It was a close call, but they were still safe.

Koushiro waited a couple moments to come out of his hiding spot. He had droplets of sweat on his forehead and his shirt was all ruffled up. He took a moment to smooth it out and to catch his breath himself.

"That was close..." Taichi mumbled. He could tell Koushiro wasn't pleased with how loud he was before based on the look he shot him.

"Let's just get this done before another guard comes around."

Taichi nodded. "Right."

Koushiro opened his laptop and started some sort of program. Taichi tried to peer over his shoulder to see what he was writing, but it was difficult to understand. Instead, he leaned back against the door and waited. He wanted to be able to hear any more guards approaching.

"This is interesting..." Koushiro began, still typing away. "I wonder who built this sort of program. I don't even think I know this much about the digital gates. For someone to override them like this... it must have taken years of research!"

"Years?" Taichi raised his brow and walked over towards his friend. He leaned over to get a better look at what Koushiro was talking about.

"Look at this!" Koushiro exclaimed, his eyes glued to his screen. He quickly realized that looking at what he was doing probably wouldn't be helpful for Taichi, so he started to explain. "Someone coded an entire program to manipulate the digital gates. They built it from scratch. I wonder where they got all of this information. They must have been watching and learning from the digital world for a really long time."

Taichi squinted his eyes and leaned in closer. "So someone figured out that they could create a program to manually control the gates? What does this mean? Is the government trying to stop us from going into the digital world?"

"Perhaps..." Koushiro muttered. "Or, it could mean that they want to get _in_."

Taichi bit his lip. "That can't be good."

"Definitely not." Koushiro replied. "We can't trust the governments of the world getting their hands on that sort of power. We've got to get this program back to Gennai so he can figure out a way to block it. We'll have to keep our eye on things like this from now on. Now that people know about the digital world, there's bound to be some who want to access it."

Taichi remained silent. His head was filled with thoughts about what could happen if the wrong person met up with an evil digimon. He imagined scenarios of war as Koushiro closed his laptop and began working on the desktop computer. "What are you doing?"

"Now that I've copied the program, I need to shut it down. Remember that Reiji kid? I think Mimi was right. The only reason he was able to enter the digital world was because someone set the portals to 'open for everyone'. We can't have that happen. Could you imagine?"

"Yeah..." Taichi felt dazed. His younger self was so naive. Did he really, at one point, think the two worlds could be integrated without problems like this? There were no rules. There were no laws. Right now, if someone wanted to harness the power of the digital world with bad intentions, they could try and do it and no one could stop them. Well, no one except for the chosen children, but Taichi didn't even want to think about going up against the _government_.

"That should do it!" Koushiro said, reading over his work with satisfaction. "I recoded the program, and I'm pretty sure I jammed it up well enough to make it difficult to reactive. Things should be back to normal now. The digital ports can be opened, but only by us."

"Great!" Taichi exclaimed, "Now let's get our stuff and get out of here. I have a feeling we've stuck around for too long already."

Koushiro packed up his things and they began to head out the same way they came in. On the way, Koushiro was sure to reactive all the cameras he'd turned off before so no one would realize there was missing footage unless they went back and watched it all. Taichi felt a bit skeptical about how much easier the mission turned out to be than he'd expected, but Koushiro seemed satisfied enough, so he didn't question it.

The two boys walked back out into the night and breathed a sigh of relief. Light was starting to flicker over the horizon.

"We did it." Koushiro said, his words riding on an exhale.

"Well," Taichi grinned, "I still have to sneak _in_ to my house."

"Ah," Koushiro replied with a smirk, "same. I don't know who I'd rather be caught by- the government or my mom."

The two of them stood on the sidewalk for a moment, still in awe of what they'd accomplished. They'd broken into a government building undetected. Koushiro had normalized the digital gates. There were some new questions raised, but that was a problem for later.

"What do we do next?" Taichi asked.

Koushiro furrowed his brow. "First, we go home and get some rest. We'll have to meet up with the others later and make sure everything is definitely back to normal. I'm going to start monitoring the gates more closely. This can't happen again, but if it does, we'll have to stop it. I have a feeling we'll be facing some new problems in the near future."

"So it goes..." Taichi muttered, his shoulders sagging with exhaustion.

Koushiro repeated his words, leaning his head back so he could get a good look at the night sky. "So it goes..."

* * *

 _"Is that him? The boy?"_

 _"Yeah, that's him. He's the one we want."_

Their voices were quiet, yet stern. They watched two boys walk off down the road. Across town, a girl jolted from her sleep and sat up straight in bed. Another nightmare. She leaned down over the top bunk in an attempt to wake her brother, but no one was there.

 _"I'm coming for you... Hikari.."_

It was the same voice from her dreams, but this time she was wide awake.

* * *

 **I have no excuse for taking such a long time with this chapter. I don't. I really don't. I'm so sorry, but thank you for reading! The next installment will come soon. I'm expecting the next chapter to be a lot of fun to write, so hopefully it won't take as long ;). I'm looking forward to exploring some of the characterization of the other kids, too!**

 **Thanks again!**

 **-garudamon**


	6. Darkness at Play

Chapter 6: Darkness at Play

* * *

Taichi shuffled about in the empty streets, trying to make it home before his parents woke up. He stuffed his sweaty hands into his pockets and dried them against the fabric. He was still a bit on edge, and he probably would be until he made it back into his bedroom. There was something getting at his nerves. Taichi had the feeling he was being followed.

The boy looked over his shoulder and picked up his pace. His building was at the corner of the street. He could see it through the morning fog. As he crossed his parking lot and pulled open the door to the stairwell, he checked over his shoulder once more.

"Almost home..." he muttered to himself, trying to sound reassuring. He paused for a moment and scanned the lot. There was nothing- just a bunch of cars. A gust of wind blew past him, the breeze cool against his neck. He swallowed and closed the door.

For as quiet as he was trying to climb the stairs, his footsteps still sent echoes up and down the stairwell. It was made entirely of concrete, and it trapped in the cool night air. Taichi could hear the pitter-patter of dripping water in the distance. There was probably a leak in the ceiling somewhere.

 _Pit-pat-pit-pat-pit-pat-CLANK._

A door opened and was slammed shut with a bang. Taichi jumped. He'd reached his floor, but he held onto the doorknob, unable to open it. If someone was following him, he didn't want them to see what floor he was heading onto.

There were no footsteps.

 _Pit-pat-pit-pat-pit-pat._

Taichi pulled the door open and walked briskly towards his apartment door. It felt like the fog had grown thicker while he was busy heading upstairs. He couldn't see the horizon from the open hallway. He stared over the ledge as he passed his neighbor's doors. 301, 301, 303, 304... he made it.

The boy pulled open the screen door and grabbed his key out of his pocket, his shaky hand struggling to connect with the lock.

"Come on..." Taichi muttered again, a strange sense of urgency filling his voice. His heartbeat pounded, like his body was trying to warn him of something. Taichi glanced back towards the stairwell door and noticed a figure standing there. It was the figure of a man, and he was covered by the shadows.

The boy dropped his key to the ground and spun around to face whoever was staring at him. The man was just standing there... watching. He stood still for a moment before turning and heading back down the stairwell, disappearing as quickly as he'd shown up.

Taichi blinked. "Hey!" he called out, dashing off after him. He made it back to the door of the stairs and yanked it open. "HEY!" His voice bellowed down. No one responded. If anyone was _actually_ there, they weren't there anymore.

"Shit..." The boy murmured. He wondered if he was so tired that he'd imagined it. He was definitely on edge- perhaps his eyes were playing tricks on him.

The boy walked back to his door and leaned over to pick up the key, pausing momentarily to glance back at the other end of the hallway. Another chilly breeze went by, jingling some chimes that someone had up in front of their door. Besides that, though, it was silent. There was nothing.

Hesitantly, Taichi pushed his key in the door and opened it. The temperature inside matched the outdoor air. It threw Taichi off and forced his attention towards the back of the apartment. The balcony door was wide open, and someone was standing on the deck. The boy quickly shut the front door behind him and sped off towards them.

It was Hikari. What was she doing up so early? The sun had just completely broken the horizon. A full circle of light could be seen out over the sea.

"Hikari?" Taichi asked, pushing his way through the blowing curtains. "What are you doing out here?"

The girl's gaze was locked out over the harbor. It was like she didn't hear him over the sound of waves crashing in the distance.

"Hikari?" Taichi repeated. "Hey, Hikari!"

He had to raise his voice to get his sister's attention. Her body became tense until she turned and found the source of the call.

"Taichi?" She asked quietly, squinting her eyes and looking around. "What are we- what are you doing out here?"

The older Yagami furrowed his brows. "I was about to ask you the same question." Lines of concern formed on his forehead.

Hikari looked her brother up and down, a curious look coming across her face once she realize he was in jeans and sneakers. He didn't want to explain anything, but thankfully she spoke up first. "I think I had a bad dream."

"What?" Taichi asked, "Did you sleep walk out here?"

The girl didn't answer. She glanced back out over the ocean, like she was looking for something. Taichi tracked her gaze and stared out towards the sea as well. "What's bothering you?"

"Nothing." Hikari said swiftly, trying to squash her brother's concerns. "I just, uh, needed some air." She glanced down at his shoes once more. "Where were you, anyways?"

Taichi sighed. "Let's go inside. We have some things to talk about."

* * *

It was 7am, but Yamato was a morning person. He enjoyed getting up early and making himself a good breakfast. This morning, he'd just stirred up a bunch of eggs and mixed them with some herbs and spinach. He poured the contents onto a heated pan and got ready to chop up some ham. This would be _quite_ the omelette.

Yamato usually made enough for two people, but his father wasn't home. His bedroom door was closed, but Yamato could tell due to the lack of snoring. He assumed that he'd spent another all-nighter at work, the workaholic he was. The more hectic the news was, the less he saw of his father. There was nothing particularly interesting going on though, so Yamato wondered what big story he could be working on.

The blonde was already sat down and eating when the front door opened. He expected to see his father with bags under his eyes, dragging his briefcase along behind him. Instead, his father was dressed like he'd just gone out to a fancy meal.

"Hello..." Yamato said curiously, much like a parent who'd caught their kids coming home late after a night out. "You didn't wear that to work, did you?"

"Work? Oh, no." Mr. Ishida said, stifling a yawn. He followed the smell of freshly brewed coffee towards the kitchen and poured himself a cup. "I meant to come home last night after- er, well. I meant to come home. Sorry."

Yamato kept his face emotionless, but it wouldn't have mattered. His father avoided his stare. The boy figured he had a date with that woman he was seeing. That's what he was dressed for, anyways.

"Well I hope you had fun." Yamato stated, glancing at his father as he took a sip of his drink. He peered at him from over the mug.

Mr. Ishida finally locked eyes with him. "I did."

Yamato let out a long exhale and looked down at his empty plate. He heard his father go into his room and plop himself into bed. He didn't want to think about it, but it sounded like he had a long night.

The boy felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out to see that he'd been added to a group message, started by Koushiro.

 _'Can everyone make it to my house in a few hours? I've got some updates about the digital gates.'_

Yamato glanced at the clock. He wondered if 'a few hours' meant before or after noon. His friend was foolish if he thought all of the chosen would be awake by mid-day, especially on a weekend. The boy was about to respond that he'd be there, at least, but another buzz meant that someone beat him to it. Sora.

 _'Sure! Thanks for organizing. Noon?'_

Sora was another morning person. No matter how early it was, she always managed to be chipper. He used to love that about her. There was one morning...

 _"Sora? Are you sure your mom won't be home anytime soon?"_

 _"Don't worry, Yamato! It's 8am. She's not coming home until after dinner."_

 _"She won't know I was here?"_

 _"No. As long as you don't forget anything. Do you know where all your clothes are?"_

 _"Probably lost in the blankets. Look, they're all messed up! You're a blanket hog, you know that?"_

 _"Yamato!"_

He didn't want to think about it. Yamato scooped up his dishes and dropped them in the kitchen sink. He hoped someone else would reply between him and Sora, but just as he suspected, everyone else was still asleep.

 _'I'll be there.'_

Koushiro's response made him cringe.

 _'Thanks for the quick replies. You two are always reliable.'_

* * *

Across town, Jyou Kido's alarm was going off. It continually beeped, but it couldn't seem to wake the sleeping boy. He was wrapped up with one of his text books, holding it like a pillow. Like he had many nights before the last, he fell asleep while studying. He dreamt of his exams, although, to be honest, the dreams felt more like nightmares.

"Jyou? Jyou!" There was a knock on his door. It yanked Jyou from his sleep.

"Y-yeah?!" He fumbled around in his blankets, trying to find his phone. The door opened just as he managed to turn his alarm off. It was his older brother.

"Your alarm was going off for like fifteen minutes. I wanted to make sure you were up."

Jyou let out a small yawn and glanced down at his textbook. He hoped his brother didn't see him snuggled up with it. "I am now. Thanks."

The older Kido nodded and closed Jyou's door. His younger brother laid in bed, trying to find the will to get up while knowing his day would be filled with more studying. Textbooks were piled up on his bedside table, like they'd lined up to taunt him one by one.

Jyou sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his bed. The wooden floor was cold, and it tricked him into thinking that it wouldn't even be worth it to get up. He needed to study, but what good would it do? The boy felt like he plateaued and couldn't possibly do any better in his classes.

Perhaps a few years ago, Jyou would have felt a sense of responsibility when seeing the type of message that Koushiro sent. Now all he could think about was how it would cut into his studies. He struggled to consolidate the responsibilities of being a chosen child with the need to study and become an adult. How was he supposed to do both?

He toyed with the idea of skipping the meeting, but eventually gave in and let Koushiro know he'd be a little late. By the time he'd sent back any sort of response it was nearing 11:30. He'd only made it through a chapter of his book.

Jyou leaned back in his chair for a moment and stared out the window. "What am I going to _do_?"

He left his desk covered in books and papers and headed to Koushiro's apartment. When he arrived, he found that everyone else was already there, but they'd waited to start discussing. No matter how many times the group did thoughtful things like that for him, he would always be surprised.

"Sorry I'm late..." Jyou mumbled, glancing around and offering each of his friends an apologetic look. They were spread out around Koushiro's bedroom. Mimi, Sora, and Taichi were sat on his bed. Takeru and Hikari sat cross-legged on the floor. Yamato was leaned up against the wall with his arms crossed. Koushiro was sat at his desk, pulling some things up on the computer. "Just us?" Jyou asked, realizing that the only younger kids that were present were Takeru and Hikari.

"Oh, what, we're not good enough for ya?" Taichi teased. He popped up off the bed and put a hand on Jyou's shoulder. "I for one think it's nice to have the original gang together!"

"And-" Koushiro cut in, "now that everyone's here, we can start. First, a confession..."

Everyone directed their attention towards the boy genius.

"Taichi and I... did something last night. We didn't want to tell you because we didn't want to get any of our friends in trouble."

If it was possible, Yamato put on a heavier pout. "What did you mean you did something? Without us? Did you get into the digital world?"

"No." Koushiro replied, attempting to keep his cool while Yamato shot daggers at him. "Listen, it was my idea to only tell Taichi. Let me explain."

Yamato leaned back up against the wall and let his shoulders drop, although his arms were still locked tightly across his chest. Koushiro recounted the previous night's adventures, much to the awe of their friends. Mimi stared at Koushiro with concern as he spoke. Hikari, who'd already been filled in, kept glancing seriously at Takeru, as if to confirm that the story was true. Sora twisted her head around so fast to glare at Taichi that the boy thought it could have popped off.

"What do you mean you broke into the department of defense?!" Sora yelped. "And without asking for our help?!" She turned back towards Koushiro. "Are the two of you crazy?!"

"That's what I asked when Koushiro first told me about this!" Taichi interjected. "This is for real though. We have the program that the government used to block the gates."

Sora furrowed her brows. She seemed displeased to know anything productive came out of Taichi and Koushiro's little adventure. Yamato perked up across the room. He still looked like he was sulking, but it was easy to tell he was interested.

Koushiro pulled up the copy he'd made of the program and pointed towards his computer screen. "Look. I already told Taichi, but someone made this from scratch. I predict that a team of people were assigned to watch our movements in and out of the digital world in order to make this. People are starting to pay attention to us, to our digimon, to what we're doing... Who knows who else is watching, or who else is planning something. It's become our duty to make sure the power of the digimon doesn't fall into the wrong hands."

"The wrong hands?" Yamato asked, frowning, "So, the government? The military? Koushiro, we're teenagers. We can't possibly do that. What business do we have telling the government what to do?"

It was Taichi who answered. He turned to face Yamato directly. "What business does the government have messing with the digital world? Do you know what could happen if someone decided to use them for something?"

"Do you honestly think some average humans are going to be able to access that type of power?" Yamato shot back. He was already in a bad mood due to his father, and the retort from Taichi didn't help.

"What reason do we have to think they won't?!" Taichi exclaimed. "Someone's already made a program to open and close the gates at their whim- apparently for anyone! That stupid kid got in! What was his name?"

"...Reiji..." Hikari mumbled quietly, lines of concern planted across her forehead.

"Reiji!" Taichi repeated, his eyes still locked on Yamato.

Although Taichi was starting to raise his voice, Yamato attempted to sound level-headed. "That couldn't have been anything more than a fluke." He looked off to the side, his arms still crossed. At this point, Taichi could have been inarguably right and Yamato would have still tried to deny it.

"We can't assume that." Taichi retorted.

Yamato had nothing. He was still looking over towards an empty wall. Sora's lips twitched downwards as she locked eyes with Koushiro. He gave her a helpless look. They were too used to the fighting at this point.

Sora looked at Yamato for a moment, trying to gauge how poorly he'd react if she jutted into the conversation. He refused to look at her, though, so she decided to risk it. "Taichi, I think what Yamato is meaning to say is that we have to be careful. If we're going to start-"

"-That's not what I'm saying." Yamato interrupted. "I'm saying we shouldn't do this at all. I'm saying it can't be our responsibility to keep world leaders in check. That's above us."

"Nothing's above us!" Taichi exclaimed. "We're the chosen children. We have to keep the peace between the two worlds. It's in the job description." He paused for a moment and narrowed his eyes. "Or did you not read it?"

Yamato's stance became tense once again. "Oh, fuck off Taichi."

"Yamato!" Sora said shrilly. Taichi spun his head around to look at her, but the blonde just looked down at the ground. He tried to pretend like he didn't care, but his face looked pained.

Another shrill voice broke through the fighting, but this time it wasn't Sora's. Mimi stood up from the bed and looked angrily from Taichi to Yamato. "You're both being stupid! None of us came here to listen to you two fight! Koushiro did all this work, and you can't even listen to what he has to say? God forbid we let the one who actually knows what's going on tell us what he thinks we should do."

Everyone's attention turned back to Koushiro, and he could feel the tension like a slap in the face. "Oh- I, I mean.. uh.."

As Koushiro stumbled while trying to find his words, Jyou tried to figure out whether he wanted to add his own two cents or not. That'd never gone well in the past during Taichi and Yamato's spats, but he felt like he needed to be the voice of reason. He was the oldest, after all. "Mimi's right." He said. "We don't even really know what the problem is yet- or if there is one- but if Koushiro has an idea, I think we should listen to him. So?"

Koushiro took a deep breath. "I don't think we should do anything drastic yet, but we definitely need to keep a close eye on this. If anyone tries to manipulate the gates again, we need to stop them. I know we all have this fantastic idea in our heads about the real world and the digital world living in harmony, but we can't just merge two worlds. There's going to be problems, and Taichi's right about us being the delegates."

Yamato rolled his eyes. "Fine. As long as we don't do anything rash. I don't know about you all, but I don't want anyone thinking the digimon are to be feared."

That made enough sense to everyone, but Taichi was still fuming. He was glaring at Yamato, like he was trying to will the blonde to lock eyes with him. He wouldn't.

"Right." Koushiro agreed. "So here's what we should do-"

"Keep an eye on the gates?" Taichi interrupted, a hint of sass in his voice. He didn't know what else there could possibly be to do at this point, especially if everyone was so set on kicking back and waiting for trouble.

"Can you let him speak?" Sora scolded. Taichi spun around to look at her. He had a million retorts prepared, it was just a matter of which one to use. However, something caught him off guard. Sora's skin was flushed. She was red, like she'd just run a mile. Could she really be that flustered? The quick up-down motion of her shoulders caught his eye, and he noticed that her hair was pulled back with some sort of bobby pin.

Taichi watched her look of frustration turn into one of confusion. He moved his gaze back up to her eyes and pulled out the first comeback he could think of. "Okay, _mom_."

Sora blinked. Her lack of response caused him to become incredibly aware of his actions. Taichi tried to pretend like he _hadn't_ stared at her for a second too long. He could feel Yamato's eyes on him from across the room, watching him. He looked up to meet his gaze and narrowed his eyes to match it. However, Yamato didn't look angry. He looked concerned... he was observing.

Taichi felt an uncomfortable twitch in his stomach before turning back to Koushiro with a heavy exhale. "Well?"

"Well," the redhead began, "if you're all ready to listen, what I think we should do is this: We need to keep track of the gates. I want to know everything going in, and everything going out. I'm going to start tracking that, and if anything abnormal happens I'll let you know."

The group nodded. That seemed simple enough.

"And," Koushiro continued, "we can't forget about that weird signal I got before. There's something else strange happening, I can feel it." He paused and glanced at Takeru and Hikari. "When you guys went looking for the source of the disturbance, my computer said you disappeared. However, Mimi and I were able to find you quite easily. I think we should continue investigating that."

The group nodded again.

"Finally," Koushiro said, sighing, "someone needs to talk to Reiji. I don't like that he was able to go through the digiport, even _if_ this program was to blame. He was so angry and uncooperative when he came back, too. I want to make sure nothing happened to him."

"So what are we going to do?" Taichi asked, "Interrogate the kid?"

" _You're_ going to interrogate the kid." Koushiro clarified, the corners of his lips twitching upwards in satisfaction.

"Me?!" The brunette questioned, "but he hates me! I'm the last person he'd want to talk to."

"Well then, you and Sora." Koushiro said, looking over at the girl. "I need you two to find out how Reiji got into the digital world, _and_ what happened to him. Okay?"

Taichi pouted, so Sora elbowed him in the arm and spoke up for both of them. "Sure thing, Koushiro."

"Great. Now, Yamato and Jyou-"

Jyou bit his lip and interrupted quietly. "Ah, I don't really.. er... I don't really know if I can be off in the digital world right now. I have exams. Is there something I can do in _this_ world?"

Koushiro sighed and took a moment to rethink his plan. "Fine. Jyou, you'll be on call if anything strange happens with the gates. The next time someone messes with them, I'm sending you to investigate."

Jyou didn't like that very much, but he figured he couldn't be too picky. He nodded. "Fine."

Next, Koushiro turned to Yamato. "Yamato, I need you to take Takeru and Hikari into the digital world. They'll lead you to the spot of the disturbance. I need you guys to investigate it, and I need you to be ready to fight in case you run into those Divermon again."

"And me?" Mimi asked, looking at Koushiro intently.

"You..." the boy responded, forcing back a smirk. "I need your help tracking the digital activity going on with the gates. Is that alright with you?"

Taichi noticed that Mimi was the only one who had the luxury of saying whether she was alright with her assignment or not. He watched the two of them smile at each other. Wasn't it strange for Koushiro to pick Mimi for help with computers?

Their meeting concluded with everyone deciding to check back in with each other after their respective tasks were complete. Yamato, Takeru, and Hikari would head home to gather their things and then head into the digital world. Taichi and Sora needed to plan out how to get Reiji to tell them what happened. Jyou left the meeting in a guilt-ridden trance, both upset and relieved by his assignment. Mimi stayed behind.

"I hope all this works..." Koushiro said quietly, looking at the floor to hide the tinge of red on his cheeks.

"It will." Mimi said reassuringly. "It has to."

The redhead looked up and smiled sheepishly at her. His blushing made Mimi smile. "How do you do it?" she asked.

Koushiro blinked. "Do what?"

"Always organize plans like this." she answered, as if Koushiro should have known what she was talking about. "You always have an answer of some sort. You always know what to do. Every time we all show up here sad, confused, whatever, we always leave feeling much more reassured. How do you do it?"

The boy furrowed his brow. "I... I don't know." In reality, he was good with computers and data. He could figure out any problem if he had the time. However, he was so taken aback by Mimi's compliment that he couldn't put two and two together. It was nice that someone noticed his hard work, and the effect it had on the group. Perhaps that was his role in all of this.

"Well, either way," Mimi went on, finally standing up from his bed and stretching her arms into the air with a yawn, "don't stop doing it! We'd be lost without you, you know. Who else could figure out how to track the activity of the digital gates?"

"Probably any one of you, if you took the time to learn." Koushiro stood himself and flashed the girl a grin. "You notice all these details, I think you'd be quite good at it."

Mimi stuck her tongue out at him and gave a smile that scrunched up her nose. "Just stick around so I don't have to learn, okay?"

"Don't worry." Koushiro replied. "I'm not going anywhere." He smiled back and blushed. "You know, I've enjoyed spending all this time with you. The work feels less tedious when you're around."

Mimi was the one blushing now. Comments like that from Koushiro were rare. He'd grown to like the company of other people, but still, the girl knew her company must really have been appreciated in order to elicit such a compliment.

A silence grew between them as the space between them closed. With one more half step, Mimi was sure she could stand on her tip-toes and kiss him if she wanted to. And she could have, she was almost there.

Koushiro's eyes were locked on her. She'd have to be the one to make the first move, but she'd never felt drawn to someone like she was drawn into him. She stared at him as she leaned in closer, careful to watch him, to make sure what she was doing was okay.

"I... Mimi.." he stuttered, their faces inches away from each other. It wasn't a plea or a rejection, it was out of nervousness. Mimi wondered if he'd ever kissed someone before. The thought of being his first was exciting, and she leaned in more.

And then, a steady beeping sound came from his computer. It pounded space between them and pulled both their attentions towards the screen.

Internally, Mimi cursed it. She wanted to grumble something about ruining the mood, but she knew that something important could be happening. As always, the digital world trumped their personal lives. "What is it?"

Koushiro needed a moment to gather himself. He could feel his cheeks burning red. He stumbled back towards his desk and grabbed at the computer mouse, pushing papers onto the floor as he reached out with his shaking hand. "I, uh, give me a, here-!"

Mimi leaned in next to him, her shoulder touching his chest. His heart was pounding.

"There." He pointed on the screen, swallowing hard. "More irregular activity with a digital portal. I don't recognize that one though, do you?"

Mimi squinted her eyes at the spot he was pointing to. "No... that looks like the middle of a street. What's going on?"

"Nothing good, I'm sure." Koushiro sighed, glancing at the clock. "It's too early for Yamato, Takeru, and Hikari to be doing anything, too." He plopped himself back down into his chair and prepared to get back to work. He could smell Mimi on him, though, and it was incredibly distracting. He kept thinking back to what _could have_ just happened.

* * *

Taichi kicked an empty can along the sidewalk and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "So how are we going to get that kid to talk?"

"I'm not sure." Sora replied, taking a moment to push her bobby pin back farther in her hair. "You're right about him disliking you though. Maybe I should approach him first."

"What's there to even dislike?" Taichi asked. Sora glanced at him and expected to see a sassy look on his face, but he looked serious. She raised her brows and looked at him skeptically. Taichi scoffed. "Yeah?"

Sora shook her head and heard her stomach rumble. She hadn't eaten all day. She'd felt so stressed lately that she'd been skipping meals. Her appetite was totally stolen from her, but it was loud enough to grab Taichi's attention.

"Are you hungry?" Taichi asked, "I am too. Maybe we could pull over for some food and think this out."

Sora agreed, and Taichi's gaze was once again drawn to the pin in her hair. "Is that new?"

"Yeah. Do you like it?" Her expression brightened a bit, happy that Taichi had noticed.

Taichi pulled his hands out of his pockets and waved them back and forth in front of him. "Now that's a loaded question!"

Sora was the one to roll her eyes now.

The two of them walked along for a little, suggesting restaurants to each other until they found one they agreed upon. Taichi couldn't help but laugh as he watched Sora scour the menu for the healthiest option.

"You're a rabbit." He teased. He reached out and tugged lightly on her menu, pushing it down towards the table. "Let me order for you, will you? What do you want? Lettuce? Some carrots chopped up into small pieces?"

Sora pulled the menu out of his reach and raised it up again. "Okay, then I'll order for _you_. Should I just have the waiter pour ten packets of sugar onto your plate?"

Taichi stuck his tongue out. "Order me a drink, actually. What beers do they have here?"

"Beer?" Sora raised a brow. "Now?"

"It's been a long day!" Taichi stretched his hands above his head and yawned. "Do you want one too? I think they have specials here, or," Taichi caught her skeptical look, "are you still recovering from Mimi's party the other night?"

Sora felt her cheeks get hot. She was embarrassed, but she couldn't remember what she should be embarrassed about. Taichi smirked, loving her reaction, so he went on.

"I think I like drunk Sora. She's tons of fun. Why don't you bring her around more often?"

Sora glared at him from behind her menu. "No way." she said flatly. Sora liked a drink every now and then, but after remembering how she felt the morning after Mimi's, she decided she'd be alright with never touching alcohol again.

Taichi laughed at her, creases around his eyes brightening his persona. "Well, either way, you're lucky you eat like a rabbit! If your body was filled with unhealthy food instead of lettuce maybe I wouldn't have been able to get you into bed."

Sora felt heat rush to her face once again. She was sure she was bright red at this point. "Taichi!" she yelped exasperatedly, drawing more laughter from her friend. He really needed to watch his phrasing. Perhaps 'carry you into bed' would have been more appropriate. "That's not funny! It's your fault you know. We didn't have to have that last drink."

Taichi smirked again. "I think you crossed the point of no return long before then."

The boy was saved from whatever scolding Sora had for him by the waitress who came up to take their orders. The momentum for argument was totally lost, and the two of them ate their meals in relative peace and quiet, pausing every now and then between bites to bring up an idea about talking to Reiji.

* * *

An hour didn't go by that didn't have Reiji thinking about his short trip into the digital world. He longed to go back and learn more. It was a new frontier for him- a fantastic image in his mind.

At this particular time, he was thinking of it because he'd received an email.

 _'Reiji,_

 _I told you I'd locate you! I did it! Listen kid, I've figured out a way to get you back here. Here's the coordinates for an open digital port. Get there soon, and I'll give you further instructions!_

 _Your partner,_

 _Impmon'_

The boy's eyes glazed over as he read each word, his mind thumping with excitement as he registered the word 'partner'. He closed his laptop and glanced at the clock. After checking the location of the coordinates, he figured he could be there in a half hour.

The boy seemed all-too eager to leave his home world behind for an amount of time that was totally unspecified. It was an adventure to him- one that would grant him a digimon partner _and_ the chance to get back at the chosen children at the same time. Why were they so deserving?

After packing a bag and putting on sneakers, Reiji caught a glance of himself in his bedroom mirror. It hung above a plain dresser that might have had trophies or photos of friends on it if he were somebody else. The boy thought he looked lanky and unimpressive, his dark hair in a messy heap on his head. He slowed down and furrowed his brows, flashing a sign of uncertainty that he quickly hid away.

"You're deserving." he mouthed to himself, dashing out the door of his empty apartment. He didn't have to worry about anyone questioning him. Folks were rarely home, anyways. Reiji wondered who would be gone longer. He wondered if they would miss him.

The coordinates led the boy towards an alley closer to downtown. Perhaps it was fate, but his route led him past a restaurant, and at that restaurant, two chosen children were busy paying their bill. Taichi Yagami noticed Reiji go past the window, a bit too urgently for his liking, and looking so flustered that it unsettled his full stomach.

"Hey, Sora..." he caught her attention and motioned towards the boy, who was busy looking all around him before dashing down the road.

Sora didn't have to say anything for the two of them to realize they needed to act. They left some cash on the table and ran out. If they needed to confront Reiji anyways, now was as good a time as ever. They crossed the street, dashing past cars and eliciting a few horn honks. They caused such a ruckus that Reiji took the time to glance behind him, his brows shooting up once he locked eyes with Taichi.

"Hey!" The brunette called out towards the younger boy. "Wait up!"

"We have to talk to you!" Sora yelled, feeling like it wouldn't have made a difference if they called out to him or not. Reiji turned into an alley and Sora and Taichi picked up their pace. He was fast, but the two of them made it into the alley before he could go anywhere else. They had him cornered now- or so they thought.

"Hey- whoa!" Taichi called again, a bright light at the end of the alley catching his attention. He skidded to a halt and stared. It looked like a rip in space and glowed a bright orange-yellow. "Reiji, what are you doing?!"

The boy paused for a moment, wiping the look of awe off his own face before turning around to face the two chosen children. "I'm going into the digital world! I'm going to meet my partner!"

Sora and Taichi looked at each other, both of them feeling the same unsettled sickness that plagued them when they first saw Reiji running.

"Reiji, you can't just go into the digital world like this!" Taichi exclaimed. "This isn't even what a digital portal usually looks like! You could be going anywhere! It's dangerous!"

"This portal was made especially for me!" Reiji shot back. "Don't try and stop me! I'm going, and I'm sure more kids will come! It's only a matter of time until more people get partners, and you won't be the only special ones anymore."

The boy turned around and faced the light once again.

"Reiji!" Taichi called out again, his voice deep and hoarse. "No!"

"Don't!" Sora yelled, stumbling forward and reaching out in an attempt to hold Reiji back. She grabbed a hold of his shirt, causing Reiji to look back and glare at her.

"Let go!"

"No!" Sora gasped in response. "This isn't about 'being special', Reiji! Whenever a portal opens like this- whenever people travel into the digital world with such disregard- something bad happens! You can't put yourself in danger!"

The boy blinked, his mouth agape. For a split second, Sora thought he showed some signs of fear. However, any breakthrough that Sora had with him was reversed at the sound of a strange, deep voice.

"Reiji!" It beckoned him.

The light grew bigger and bigger, and Reiji looked determined once again. "Let go! I'm going!"

The girl grunted, trying to shield her eyes from the blinding light while still maintaining a solid grip on the boy. He took a half step forward, and it was apparently all the portal needed to swallow them hole. There was a blast of light, a loud noise, and then there was nothing. Reiji had entered a different world, and Sora was dragged in with him.

Taichi lowered his arms from in front of his eyes and let them adjust to the normal light. He should have been concerned about the portal and about Reiji, but all he could register was the absence of his friend.

"Sora!" Taichi yelled, running up towards the spot where the portal appeared a minute ago. " _Sora!?_ "

He ran towards the other end of the alley and turned around. There was still nothing. There was no gate, no portal- just the panic-inducing lack of his friend. His shoulders rose and fell heavily as he struggled to catch his breath, his eyes pierced with panic, his skin paled.

"Shit!" He yelled out. He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and took off towards a library that was a few blocks away. There were computers there. There was a digital portal. There was a way to get to Sora. As he turned a corner so fast he nearly slipped, his feet pounding against the sidewalk, the voice that called Reiji's name played over and over again in his head. Something dark was at play here, and he let his best friend stumble right into it. Taichi couldn't afford to hesitate this time.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! I'm happy to report that this chapter took a week to post instead of the usual couple of months. I had a ton of fun writing it. A lot happened I think, but I hope you all enjoyed it! As always, reviews/grammatical corrections/constructive criticism is always greatly appreciated. Shout out to user Growlm0n for beta-reading this, too. I hope that between the two of us we managed to cover any glaring errors. Thanks!**

 **-Garudamon**


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